Leclerc tops rookie-heavy Mexico City FP1

Charles Leclerc put Ferrari on top in a disrupted, rookie-heavy opening practice for the Mexico City Grand Prix, setting a 1m18.128s on soft tyres to finish 0.659s clear of Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli.

Why it matters:

With several regular drivers stepping aside for FP1, the session offered a rare look at F1's next generation — and a reminder of Ferrari's single-lap speed at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. The resurfaced track made grip elusive early, adding noise to the order.

The details:

• Frederik Vesti, deputising for George Russell, took third for Mercedes, 0.074s behind Antonelli and just 0.005s ahead of Lewis Hamilton's Ferrari.
• Ayumu Iwasa was fifth in Max Verstappen's Red Bull, with Pierre Gasly sixth for Alpine and Fernando Alonso seventh ahead of Oscar Piastri.
• Oliver Bearman and Arvid Lindblad completed the top 10. Nikola Tsolov ran as high as sixth early on for Racing Bulls.
• Isack Hadjar reported a power-unit problem; Jak Crawford stopped with a suspected ERS issue, triggering a brief VSC.
• Freddie Slater's Audi was recalled after a cooling fan was left inside the car, ruining his session. Bearman later returned to the pits with smoke visible around his Haas.
• Sergio Perez was only 18th for Cadillac at his home race.

What's next:

FP2 later on Friday should give teams a cleaner read on long-run pace and tyre behaviour, with the full regular line-up back in action.