George Russell topped the times in a disrupted FP1 in Mexico City with the red flags being thrown twice – once for debris and a second time following a crash between Alex Albon and Ollie Bearman.
The Mercedes man was the quickest of all in the first session of the weekend at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, with five junior drivers on show on track – Felipe Drugovich for Aston Martin, Robert Shwartzman in the Sauber, Pato O’Ward for McLaren, Kimi Antonelli for Mercedes and the aforementioned Bearman was getting another run out in the Ferrari.
FP1: Russell leads Sainz and Tsunoda during first practice in Mexico after dramatic Albon/Bearman collision
However, the 19-year-old Briton’s session was cut short – along with Albon – after the Williams driver lost control at Turn 9 and made contact with the Ferrari. As Albon slid heavily into the barriers, the damage to the Ferrari also saw Bearman come to a halt. Both drivers were thankfully unharmed in the incident, which will be investigated after the session.
Following up Russell on the leaderboard was Carlos Sainz in second, while the RB of Yuki Tsunoda placed third. Max Verstappen was fourth fastest though the Red Bull man seemed to suffer from a loss of power towards the end of the session.
With an elongated 90-minute FP2 next up for the F1 grid, click play on the video above to catch up on the highlights from FP1 in Mexico City.
