Mercedes driver George Russell topped first practice for the Mexico City Grand Prix, leading the way from Ferrari rival Carlos Sainz and RB’s Yuki Tsunoda in a session that featured several rookies and a couple of red flags.
With the regulations stating that all Formula 1 drivers must sit out one FP1 per season for a rookie who has no more than two Grand Prix starts, Mercedes, Ferrari, McLaren, Aston Martin and Kick Sauber were the teams to make changes.
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Lewis Hamilton’s 2025 replacement, Kimi Antonelli, drove for the Silver Arrows, along with future Haas driver Ollie Bearman at Ferrari, IndyCar racer and home hero Pato O’Ward at McLaren, former GP2 champion Felipe Drugovich at Aston Martin and Robert Shwartzman at Kick Sauber.
As a result, it meant Hamilton, United States Grand Prix winner Charles Leclerc, Lando Norris, Fernando Alonso (celebrating his 400th race weekend appearance) and Zhou Guanyu all sat on the sidelines for the opening 60 minutes of running.
Only a few minutes into the session, the red flag was thrown by Race Control due to debris on track along the lengthy start/finish straight – replays showing Antonelli running over it as he approached the braking zone for the first corner.
