George Russell led the way in FP1 of F1 Mexico GP ahead of Carlos Sainz, with Yuki Tsunoda rounding the Top 3 places.
It was a hectic FP1 session in F1 Mexico GP on Friday with two red flag stoppages. The first came early for debris at the main straight, potentially shed by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. It was run over by Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli, after which the red flag was shown.
The second one came in the middle of the session when Williams’ Alexander Albon lost control at Turn 9 after riding over the kerb and hit Ferrari’s Oliver Bearman. The Thai tried to avoid but his rear right wheel touched the front of Bearman’s car.
That broke Albon’s wheel as he smashed onto the tyre barrier, which ended his and Bearman’s session. The Thai was noted for causing a collision, as Kick Sauber’s Robert Shwartzman was also noted for overtaking under yellow flag.
After a hard tyre run, the soft tyre saw Mercedes’ George Russell take the top spot with a 1m17.998s lap which was comfortably quicker than Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz. The Brit is on the old floor after his updated floor was sent to the UK to be repaired.
A late soft tyre run saw Visa Cash App RB’s Yuki Tsunoda in third from Verstappen, whose session ended with about six minutes remaining after potential power unit issue, which the Dutchman relayed on the radio and pitted then after.
Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg did well in fifth from McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, who had a Turn 12 off much like Williams’ Franco Colpainto. Alpine’s Esteban Ocon was seventh from Kick Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas as Visa Cash App RB’s Liam Lawson was ninth after a late lap.
The Top 10 was rounded out by Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, with Colapinto in 11th from Antonelli – the lead driver among the rookies in the FP1 session. He had more laps after taking over from Lewis Hamilton, after just a handful of laps before his Monza crash.
McLaren’s Patricio O’Ward was 13th – in for Lando Norris – ahead of Haas’ Kevin Magnussen, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll. The Canadian along with Felipe Drugovich were last to do a soft tyre run but were far behind still.
Drugovich was 18th after he was held up by Piastri on his quick lap. The Brazilian was behind Albon, who was 17th still on the hard tyre like Bearman in 20th, who ended up behind Shwartzman. The Russian had a late run-off moment at Turn 9.
UPDATE: The FIA stewards handed 5-place grid drop to Shwartzman after he was found to have overtaken Tsunoda under double yellow when Albon collided with Bearman. It is unlikely for the Russian to serve considering he is a FP1 driver.
At the same time, the Thai race was let go of his clash with the Brit as both felt the collision to be a racing incident. Here: https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/decision-document/2024%20Mexico%20City%20Grand%20Prix%20-%20Decision%20-%20Car%2023%20-%20Turn%209%20incident.pdf
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