Mexico GP: Verstappen fastest as Albon slips in 0.095s behind

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen set the fastest time on the board in the first practice session of the Mexico City Grand Prix as Williams’ Alexander Albon finished second, 0.095s off the pace.

There were two unique perspectives in the first practice of the Mexico City Grand Prix, held at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. Pirelli brought a new tyre prototype with unmarked sidewalls and a total of five drivers embarked on their rookie FP1 sessions.

Formula 2 contenders; Jack Doohan, Theo Pourchaire, Isack Hadjar, Fredrik Vesti and Ollie Bearman ventured around the Mexican track in F1 machinery. These drivers replaced F1 drivers; Pierre Gasly, Valtteri Bottas, Yuki Tsunoda, George Russell and Kevin Magnussen respectively. 

Of the first opening practice stints, the majority of the field ventured out onto the track with the prototype tyre. This was to fulfil the testing programme set by Pirelli and to clean up the dusty, and green, track before the team utilised their allocation of tyres.

Due to the high-altitude nature of the circuit, many of the engines will be truly tested this weekend at 2km above sea level. As a result, many teams were faced with mechanical glitches and problems in the opening practice session.

How first practice ended…

Verstappen took his usual space at the top of the timing boards with the fastest lap of the session with a 1:19.718 lap around the Mexican circuit. Williams’ Alexander Albon filtered in between the two Red Bull drivers 0.095s behind the three-time world champion’s benchmark time, as Sergio Perez finished third two-tenths behind his teammate. 

McLaren’s Lando Norris sat best of the rest in the opening practice despite mechanical glitches with his gearbox on his first run out on track. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc completed the top five. Both drivers completed their fastest laps on the hard tyres. 

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri sat sixth on the timing boards, with his fastest lap coming from Pirelli’s prototype tyre as Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz finished seventh despite a suspected hydraulic issue on his first runs of the session.

Daniel Ricciardo (Alpha Tauri), Esteban Ocon (Alpine) and Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) completed the top 10, within a second of Verstappen’s time. 

Mercedes’ Hamilton topped the bottom 10, one second off his former rival’s pace, ahead of Nico Hulkenberg (Haas), Guanyu Zhou (Alfa Romeo) and Logan Sargeant (Williams) who occupied 12th, 13th and 14th respectively. 

Bearman was the fastest FP1 rookie to finish the session as the impressive young driver slipped ahead of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso by three hundreds of a second as the duo sat in 15th and 16th.  

Hadjar led the remaining F2 drivers who competed in their FP1 outing, in 17th, ahead of Doohan (18th) and Vesti (19th). 

Pourchaire was not able to set a lap time on the board after a full hour as the French driver was plagued with problems with his Alfa Romeo machinery. Ultimately, the current F2 vice-champion elect finished the session 20th.

That’s all for the article; Mexico GP: Verstappen fastest as Albon slips in 0.095s behind!

Read more Formula 1 here:

• RACE REPORT: Verstappen takes 50th win at United States GP with brake issues
• Hamilton and Leclerc disqualified from the US Grand Prix
• Verstappen holds off Hamilton’s late charge to take 50th win in F1 US GP
• US GP: Verstappen secures Sprint Race win with ease with 8s over Hamilton
• US GP: Verstappen pole redemption as top three separated by 0.069s
• US GP: Leclerc gains F1 pole after Verstappen exceeds track limits

Give us a follow on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to keep up with the latest news from the world of Motorsport! You can also support us on Patreon or on our website!

Kamron Kent

Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.

I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.

Kamron Kent

Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.