Autobayng News Team
Max Verstappen admitted Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari eased his path to victory in Austin by separating him from Lando Norris at the beginning of the race.
The Ferrari pair look capable of disrupting the fight between the championship contenders again this weekend at the track where they scored their most recent victory.
Teams’ 2024 performance in context
Carlos Sainz Jnr put Ferrari on pole position last year at one of the strongest venues for the team. Their pace over a single lap looked strong on Friday as Leclerc was quick out of the box in the opening session and just over a tenth of a second off Verstappen’s Red Bull in the later hour of running.
Question marks hang over Ferrari’s race pace, however, as on many occasions this year they have had to compromise their performance to preserve their brakes or reduce floor wear by telling their drivers to “lift and coast” into braking zones. The high altitude of Mexico City is likely to exacerbate that problem.
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Teams’ progress vs 2024
The softest tyres available for this weekend’s race are no softer than those used last year and the track was very dusty on Friday which explains why, so far, none of the teams have lapped any faster than they managed last year.
Aston Martin looked in good shape on Friday, as they have tended to this year on high-downforce tracks like the Hungaroring and Singapore. Ferrari may have more pace in hand compared to their front-running rivals.
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Curiously, Andrea Kimi Antonelli was the quicker of the two Mercedes drivers. That has seldom been the case this year, though he was strong at Miami, another low-grip circuit, earlier this year.
George Russell’s practice was disrupted as he had to miss the first session. Mercedes may therefore also have the pace to get in among the championship contenders.
With Red Bull looking strong over a single flying lap and McLaren better on race pace, the concern for Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in qualifying will be whether one or more cars from Ferrari and potentially Mercedes separate them from Verstappen.
| P. | # | Driver | Team | FP1 time | FP2 time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull-Honda RBPT | 1’17.392 | 34 | ||
| 2 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1’18.380 | 1’17.545 | 0.153 | 61 |
| 3 | 12 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | 1’18.487 | 1’17.566 | 0.174 | 62 |
| 4 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Mercedes | 1’17.643 | 0.251 | 31 | |
| 5 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | 1’17.692 | 0.300 | 30 | |
| 6 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1’17.829 | 0.437 | 33 | |
| 7 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | Red Bull-Honda RBPT | 1’19.090 | 1’17.883 | 0.491 | 60 |
| 8 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin-Mercedes | 1’19.472 | 1’17.938 | 0.546 | 55 |
| 9 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Williams-Mercedes | 1’17.939 | 0.547 | 34 | |
| 10 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin-Mercedes | 1’17.954 | 0.562 | 30 | |
| 11 | 30 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls-Honda RBPT | 1’18.218 | 0.826 | 32 | |
| 12 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren-Mercedes | 1’18.784 | 1’18.232 | 0.840 | 62 |
| 13 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Haas-Ferrari | 1’19.038 | 1’18.266 | 0.874 | 60 |
| 14 | 6 | Isack Hadjar | Racing Bulls-Honda RBPT | 1’19.409 | 1’18.281 | 0.889 | 62 |
| 15 | 5 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’18.916 | 1’18.323 | 0.931 | 58 |
| 16 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’18.760 | 1’18.348 | 0.956 | 56 |
| 17 | 87 | Oliver Bearman | Haas-Ferrari | 1’18.442 | 1.050 | 34 | |
| 18 | 43 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine-Renault | 1’19.331 | 1’18.721 | 1.329 | 59 |
| 19 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams-Mercedes | 1’19.384 | 1’18.855 | 1.463 | 64 |
| 20 | 36 | Arvid Lindblad | Red Bull-Honda RBPT | 1’18.997 | 1.605 | 26 | |
| 21 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine-Renault | 1’19.194 | 1.802 | 30 | |
| 22 | 89 | Pato O’Ward | McLaren-Mercedes | 1’19.680 | 2.288 | 30 | |
| 23 | 72 | Frederik Vesti | Mercedes | 1’19.689 | 2.297 | 32 | |
| 24 | 61 | Paul Aron | Alpine-Renault | 1’19.862 | 2.470 | 29 | |
| 25 | 50 | Ryo Hirakawa | Haas-Ferrari | 1’20.073 | 2.681 | 27 | |
| 26 | 40 | Ayumu Iwasa | Racing Bulls-Honda RBPT | 1’20.153 | 2.761 | 29 | |
| 27 | 46 | Luke Browning | Williams-Mercedes | 1’20.310 | 2.918 | 31 | |
| 28 | 35 | Jak Crawford | Aston Martin-Mercedes | 1’20.371 | 2.979 | 29 | |
| 29 | 38 | Antonio Fuoco | Ferrari | 1’20.854 | 3.462 | 29 |
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2025 Mexican Grand Prix
- Live: 2025 Mexican Grand Prix qualifying
- Norris flies to fastest time in final practice ahead of Hamilton
- As it happened: 2025 Mexican Grand Prix third practice
- ‘Everything needs to go perfect to the end – but we’ve done it before’ – Verstappen
- Ferrari quick enough to disrupt the battle of the title contenders in Mexico
