F1 Mexico GP: Sainz tops first practice session amongst red flag stops
28th October 2022Ferrari topped the opening session with the fastest, and second-fastest, times as Carlos Sainz led the way ahead of Charles Leclerc and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez.
How first practice unfolded…
Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel was the first driver to venture out onto the Mexican circuit, as the outgoing four-time world champion waited eagerly for the pit exit light to go green.
The German driver was quickly followed by a flurry of drivers because the teams were forced to get a quick understanding of the set up, due to the second practice session being devoted to a Pirelli tyre test.
Ahead of the tyre test, five teams ran their FP1 sessions with rookies:
- George Russell was subbed out for Nyck De Vries at Mercedes
- Yuki Tsunoda was replaced by Liam Lawson at Alpha Tauri
- Jack Doohan was dropped into Esteban Ocon’s seat at Alpine
- Kevin Magnussen was substituted out of the session for Pietro Fittipaldi at Haas
It was another FP1 appearance for William’s Logan Sargeant who sat in for Alexander Albon as the young American bolstered his tally of super licence points.
Ahead of the US Grand Prix, Williams’ Team Principle, Jost Capito, stated the American driver will have a seat at Williams for 2023 if he accrues enough super licence points at the end of the F2 season.
After the first quarter of an hour, the Red Bull duo of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez topped the session respectively.
All of the drivers, who had set a lap time, set their respective times on the white-walled hard compound tyres. However, it wasn’t long before a handful of drivers opted to swap over onto the, quicker, red-walled soft tyres.
When the session crossed over its halfway mark, Verstappen made a rare mistake as his RB18 became unsettled through the high-speed chicane of turns 10 and 11. Despite the double world champions best efforts, Verstappen was not able to correct his car from its slide.
Fortunately, the Dutchman was able to keep his car out of the barrier and continue on.
Although a red flag was not shown for Alfa Romeo’s Gunayu Zhou, who had become stranded on the pit exit (with a gearbox issue), it was soon brought out as Haas’ rookie – and reserve driver – Fittipaldi, who was ordered to stop the car out on track.
The session soon went back under green-flag conditions as the track marshals worked quickly to remove the stranded Haas, at the opening chicane – between turns two and three.
With 15 minutes left to go of the session, 13 drivers had improved their lap times with a soft tyre run while the remaining seven still had their fastest laps on the hard compounds.
At the top of the table, Sainz topped the session with a lap time of 1:20.707, ahead of Leclerc and Perez who were in second and third respectively.
The session was brought to a premature end after Lawson was stopped out on track, amongst the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez’s famous stadium section. The New Zealanders’ problem seemed to revolve around an internal element within the power unit.
Top three:
- Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
- Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
- Sergio Perez, Red Bull
That’s it for the article; F1 Mexico GP: Sainz tops first practice session amongst red flag stops! Who is your early contender for pole position, ahead of qualifying on Saturday? Let us know in the comments!
Read more Formula 1 here:
- FIA punish Red Bull for 2021 Cost Cap
- Alpine’s protest upheld Alonso returns to P7
- F1 Mexican Grand Prix: Perez or Verstappen for top honours
- F1 United States GP: Verstappen wins as Red Bull secures title
- Esteban Ocon set for pit lane start for US Grand Prix
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