Leclerc lays down ominous Mexico FP1 marker as Herta seals Super Licence

Charles Leclerc topped first practice for the Mexico City Grand Prix with a 1:18.128, but the session's biggest storyline belonged to Colton Herta, whose 24 laps in Valtteri Bottas' Cadillac earned him the final point required for his FIA Super Licence.

Why it matters:

Ten rookies took over cars at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez — Ferrari the only team to keep both race drivers in place — but Herta's running carried real weight. The licence clears the last administrative hurdle to a 2027 Cadillac race seat, and with the nine-time IndyCar winner openly chasing Bottas' drive, the 100km he logged matters far more than his lap time.

The details:

• Leclerc's 1:18.128 was quicker than the best FP1 effort in Mexico a year ago (1:18.380), with Kimi Antonelli 0.65s back in second.
• Fred Vesti, standing in for George Russell, ran third ahead of Lewis Hamilton, with Ayumu Iwasa fifth in Max Verstappen's Red Bull.
• Isack Hadjar's session unravelled early, the Frenchman reporting "something wrong" before returning to the garage with a suspected power unit issue.
• Jak Crawford stopped Lance Stroll's Aston Martin and triggered a virtual safety car, while Oscar Piastri and Freddie Slater both toured the grass at Turn 1. Slater's Audi faces an FIA fine after he ran with a cooling fan still attached to his sidepod.
• Leonardo Fornaroli produced a huge save through Turn 11 in Lando Norris' McLaren.

What's next:

Herta's licence removes the final box that needed ticking, and Cadillac's line-up call now shapes up as one of the paddock's more closely watched decisions. For Ferrari, the size of the gap is the ominous part.