Russell fastest ahead of Sainz in dramatic F1 Mexico GP FP1 session

Russell fastest ahead of Sainz in dramatic F1 Mexico GP FP1 session

25th October 2024 0 By Kamron Kent

Mercedes’ George Russell has topped the timing boards with the fastest lap time on the board ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, in a red-flag-affected session. 

Feature image credit: Red Bull Content Pool

Formula 1 got underway in Mexico today for the 20th round of the 24-race calendar and it was a dramatic first hour of practice at the Mexico City Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. 

Two red flags plagued the session. The first was a result of debris out on track early on but the final stoppage was a result of a collision between Williams’ Alexander Albon and Ferrari’s rookie stand-in Oliver Bearman. 

Albon was on a fast lap fighting the car through the snakey section of turns seven to nine. However, on the corner exit, Albon lost control and collected Bearman in the process. 

The Williams ended up in the barrier whereas the Ferrari was forced to stop out on track with terminal damage to his car. 

How did FP1 finish?

Russell topped the timing boards with a 1m 17.998s with Sainz in second and Visa Cash App RB’s Yuki Tsunoda rounding out the top three, seven-tenths behind.  

Red Bull’s reigning world champion Max Verstappen was best of the rest in fourth ahead of Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg who completed the top five drivers at the end of the first hour. 

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri was sixth ahead of Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, Kick Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas and VCARB’s Liam Lawson who completed the session in seventh, eighth and ninth respectively. 

The Mexican home hero of Red Bull’s Sergio Perez put in a lacklustre opening hour in front of his home crowd with a 10th place finish in FP1, just over a second off the pace of Russell. 

William’s Franco Colapinto was 11th fastest, leading the bottom 10, ahead of the two of five FP1 rookies who participated in the session as Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli and McLaren’s Pato O’Ward finished 12th and 13th. 

This left Haas’ Kevin Magnussen and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly to round out the top 15 in 14th and 15th, respectively. Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll completed the session down in 16th. 

As a result of their collision, Albon and Bearman fell to 17th and 20th, respectively, after the first hour of action. 

Completing the 20-car field were the remaining FP1 rookies of Aston Martin’s Felipe Drugovich and Kick Sauber’s Robert Shwartzman in 18th and 19th. 

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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.

CategoryFormula 1 Formula Series News

About the author

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.

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