Charles Leclerc put Ferrari on top of the times in the opening practice session for the Mexican Grand Prix, in which nine regular drivers were replaced by rookies.

Ferrari bookended the times as Antonio Fuoco, driving Lewis Hamilton’s SF-25 in this session, was slowest, almost two-and-a-half seconds off Leclerc’s pace. However he and the other eight rookie drivers all avoided any dramas during their hour of running.

The track conditions improved dramatically over the course of the session as the 20 cars lifted a significant amount of dust from its surface. Those who ran latest therefore set among the most competitive times.

Championship leader Oscar Piastri therefore may not have been too alarmed to fall to fourth in the times after being the first driver to complete a lap on soft tyres. However he did have a dramatic moment at the high-speed turn-in to turn seven, catching a snap of oversteer. As well as Leclerc, Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Nico Hulkenberg also beat Piastri’s best effort.

Hulkenberg gave an early indication that Sauber may enjoy as positive a weekend in Mexico as they did in Texas a week ago. He was backed up by team mate Gabriel Bortoleto, a newcomer to the circuit, in fifth place.

Arvid Lindblad faced the daunting responsibility of taking over Max Verstappen’s car for the first session. As the championship contender observed from Red Bull’s pit wall, Lindblad gave an excellent account of himself, finishing sixth ahead of the team’s regular driver Yuki Tsunoda, who did his soft tyre run earlier in the session. Esteban Ocon split the pair of them.

Franco Colapinto was ninth fastest for Alpine, half a second faster than Paul Aron, who is understood to be his only rival for the seat next year. Alexander Albon completed the top 10.

After the session the stewards summoned Lindblad for potentially impeding McLaren’s Pato O’Ward during the session.

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2025 Mexican Grand Prix first practice result

P. # Driver Team Model Time Gap Laps
1 16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari SF-25 1’18.380 29
2 12 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes W16 1’18.487 0.107 35
3 27 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber-Ferrari C45 1’18.760 0.380 27
4 81 Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes MCL39 1’18.784 0.404 31
5 5 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber-Ferrari C45 1’18.916 0.536 28
6 36 Arvid Lindblad Red Bull-Honda RBPT RB21 1’18.997 0.617 26
7 31 Esteban Ocon Haas-Ferrari VF-25 1’19.038 0.658 29
8 22 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull-Honda RBPT RB21 1’19.090 0.710 29
9 43 Franco Colapinto Alpine-Renault A525 1’19.331 0.951 28
10 23 Alexander Albon Williams-Mercedes FW47 1’19.384 1.004 33
11 6 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls-Honda RBPT 02 1’19.409 1.029 32
12 14 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin-Mercedes AMR25 1’19.472 1.092 26
13 89 Pato O’Ward McLaren-Mercedes MCL39 1’19.680 1.300 30
14 72 Frederik Vesti Mercedes W16 1’19.689 1.309 32
15 61 Paul Aron Alpine-Renault A525 1’19.862 1.482 29
16 50 Ryo Hirakawa Haas-Ferrari VF-25 1’20.073 1.693 27
17 40 Ayumu Iwasa Racing Bulls-Honda RBPT 02 1’20.153 1.773 29
18 46 Luke Browning Williams-Mercedes FW47 1’20.310 1.930 31
19 35 Jak Crawford Aston Martin-Mercedes AMR25 1’20.371 1.991 29
20 38 Antonio Fuoco Ferrari SF-25 1’20.854 2.474 29

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2025 Mexican Grand Prix

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