Mexican GP – FP1 summary and results: Charles Leclerc leads the way for Ferrari. Charles Leclerc set the fastest time for Ferrari in FP1 at the 2025 Mexican Grand Prix.

The first free practice session of the Mexican Grand Prix saw a strong start for Ferrari, with Charles Leclerc finishing on top ahead of Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Nico Hulkenberg, and Oscar Piastri. The session ran smoothly for the nine rookies taking part on track.

During Friday’s FP1 session at the Mexican GP, it was Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari who set the fastest time. In second place came Andrea Kimi Antonelli, followed by a competitive Sauber with Nico Hulkenberg in third and Gabriel Bortoleto in fifth. Let’s rewind and recap what happened during the opening session of the Mexican weekend.

The first half of the session
All drivers began their programs on hard tyres, except for Isack Hadjar, Nico Hulkenberg, and Esteban Ocon. These three led the standings after the first quarter of the session: the French driver’s lap time of 1:20.128 gave him a half-second advantage over the German and eight tenths over Ocon. As the session entered its second quarter, the first yellow flag appeared, seemingly caused by Paul Aron, who was shown on camera by the broadcast director.

Most drivers remained in the garage as the session approached the 30-minute mark. Oscar Piastri, in the McLaren, went early on the soft tyres and jumped to the top of the timesheets with a 1:19.035. At that point, Hadjar was second by nine tenths, Antonelli third by one second, followed by Yuki Tsunoda, Esteban Ocon, Gabriel Bortoleto, Nico Hulkenberg, Alex Albon, Franco Colapinto, and Fernando Alonso completing the top ten.

The final half hour
The final third of the session began with Isack Hadjar spinning at the start of the third sector of the circuit.

In the last fifteen minutes, teams began their long-run simulations with heavier fuel loads, focusing on race preparation. However, this was not the case for every driver: Gabriel Bortoleto and Arvid Lindblad set their best laps during this phase, placing fifth and sixth, five and six tenths behind Leclerc. The Anglo-Swedish driver was the best rookie of the session. Behind him, Pato O’Ward, Frederik Vesti, Paul Aron, Ryo Hirakawa, Ayumu Iwasa, Luke Browning, Jak Crawford, and Antonio Fuoco followed in that order from thirteenth place downwards.

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