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.

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and

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.

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and

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

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and

Miss nothing from RaceFans

Get a daily email with all our latest stories – and nothing else. No marketing, no ads. Sign up here:

2025 Mexican Grand Prix

Browse all 2025 Mexican Grand Prix articles