Who was the fastest FP1 Rookie in Mexico City? 

Mercedes’ Frederik Vesti stood as the fastest Free Practice 1 Rookie at the Mexico City Grand Prix, but where did everyone else rank behind him?

Feature image credit: By Courtesy of Pirelli

A total of 10 rookies took part in Mexico City’s opening hour of practice at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, with only Ferrari opting to keep their usual driver pairing intact with Charles Leclerc taking the fastest lap ahead of fourth-placed Lewis Hamilton. 

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, McLaren’s Lando Norris and Mercedes’ George Russell were some of the big names being forced to miss out the opening hour of practice, allowing their FP1 rookie counterparts to take the track. 

However, it was not smooth sailing for the rookies as both Aston Martin’s Jak Crawford and Audi’s Freddie Slater were forced to retire mid-session with reliability woes. 

Crawford stopped out on track on the run off of turn one, prompting a virtual safety car deployment to clear away the stricken Aston Martin. Slater, on the other hand, managed to pull back into the pit lane before being forced to retire prematurely. 

Further down the field, Cadillac’s Colton Herta completed his 24-lap stint to officially earn him a Superlicence for next season, something he will require if Cadillac opt him to partner recently re-signed Sergio Perez next season.

In the end, Vesti topped the Rookie table with the third-fastest lap overall, but the fastest of the 10 on-track rookies. But where did everyone else finish?

Charles Leclerc fastest in Mexico City Grand Prix FP1

FP1 Rookie Classification (overall finishing position): 

1. Frederik Vesti, Mercedes (3) – 1m 18.861 
2. Ayumu Iwasa, Red Bull Racing (5) +0.252s
3. Nikola Tsolov, Racing Bulls (12) +0.743s
4. Gabriele Mini, Alpine (14) +1.085s
5. Ryo Hirakawa, Haas (15) +1.121s
6. Leonardo Fornaroli, McLaren (17) +1.374s
7. Jak Crawford, Aston Martin (19) +1.942s
8. Luke Browning, Williams (20) +2.008s
9. Freddie Slater, Audi (21) +2.084s
10. Colton Herta, Cadillac (22) +2.504s

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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.