Charles Leclerc fastest in Mexico FP1

Published on 30 October 2026 by Stefan Meens

Charles Leclerc was quickest in the opening practice session of the Mexican Grand Prix. Oracle Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen did not participate in FP1. Instead, rookie Ayumu Iwasa, drove the Dutchman’s RB22 to P5, with the four-time champion returning to the cockpit for the rest of the weekend.

Iwasa was not the only rookie to take to Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City. Leonardo Fornaroli (McLaren), Freddie Slater (Audi), Frederik Vesti (Mercedes), Nikola Tsolov (Racing Bulls), Gabriele Mini (Alpine), Luke Browning (Williams), Ryo Hirakawa (Haas), Colton Herta (Cadillac and Jak Crawford (Aston Martin) all made an appearance in the first session of the weekend. For Slater, Tsolov and Mini, FP1 marked their official F1 debut.

Lewis Hamilton is the first driver to leave the garage when the session gets underway. The Ferrari driver is soon joined by all the other drivers, with the exception of Fernando Alonso. Fans of the Spaniard have the wait a further five minutes before the Aston Martin makes an appearance.

Charles Leclerc is quickest throughout the first half of the session. Although several drivers, including Iwasa and Antonelli, top the leaderboards at some point, the Monegasque keep reasserting himself as the pace setter.

At the halfway point, several drivers appear on the soft tyres, resulting in the lap times dropping quickly. Leclerc makes the most of the extra performance in the tyres to clock the quickest time of the session. The Mercedes of Antonelli and Vesti are second and third fastest, but over half a second adrift.

Meanwhile, Iwasa has hit the ground runnig, lapping consistently in the top five, whilst Red Bull team mate and regular race driver Isaac Hadjar appears to struggle further back.

With thirteen minutes to go, a brief virtual safety car slows down proceedings; Jak Crawford has had to park his car track side at turn 3. The stricken Aston Martin is quickly recovered, meaning the session is fully resumed with eleven minutes left.

In the closing stages, no lap times are bettered, meaning Leclerc starts the weekend well ahead of the Mercedes of championship favourite Kimi Antonelli.

Results first free practice Mexico: