Mexico GP: Sainz fastest in FP1 from Leclerc amid stoppages
Ferrari pair of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc headed FP1 in F1 Mexico GP with Sergio Perez third amid double red flag stoppages.
It was a clean but a bit up and down FP1 session in F1 Mexico GP which was led by the Ferrari pair of Carlos Sainz (1m20.707s) and Charles Leclerc (1m20.753s) – only 0.046s separating the two. The Monegasque had an early puncture which required a change.
The two had the Red Bull pair just behind them with Sergio Perez (1m20.827s) ahead of Max Verstappen (1m20.827s), where the Dutchman had a less grippy day. He not only went off to have a half spin, he also had a separate moment where he caught it.
The duo set exactly the same time. Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton (1m20.849s) was fifth whose earlier quick lap was affected by red flag. Alpine’s Fernando Alonso (1m20.899s) was sixth from Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas (1m21.083s) as McLaren’s Lando Norris (1m21.120s) ended up seventh.
AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly (1m21.310s) lined-up ninth where the Frenchman had a moment against Williams’ Nicholas Latifi which he didn’t fancy, as the Top 10 was rounded out by Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel (1m21.525s) – sporting a Red Bull helmet.
A brake issue kept McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo in the garage for long but he finally headed out to end up 11th which also had a moment when Hamilton almost came in his way. Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu was 12th where he got stuck at the pit exit.
He couldn’t get going then and so switched off the car where he had to be wheeled in before he could get going. Haas’ Mick Schumacher was 13th from Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Latifi, who were the last of the weekend runners.
Among the FP1 runners, AlphaTauri’s Liam Lawson led the way in 16th where the Kiwi not only had a lock-up at Turn 1 but brake fire forced him to stop early to not only cause a red flag but also end the session with about three minutes to go.
The front left was smoking hugely and eventually caught fire as he led Williams’ Logan Sargeant, Mercedes’ Nyck de Vries, Alpine’s Jack Doohan and Haas’ Pietro Fittipaldi – where they replaced Yuki Tsunoda, Alexander Albon, George Russell, Esteban Ocon and Kevin Magnussen respectively.
This was the last session for de Vries with Mercedes as he will now get no more track running since he is switching to AlphaTauri. Doohan, meanwhile stopped early due to engine issues, while Fittipaldi caused the first red flag due ti MGU-K problem.
