Leclerc sets the early pace on Mexico City practice day

The story

Charles Leclerc gave Ferrari an encouraging start to the Mexico City Grand Prix weekend by finishing fastest in both Friday practice sessions. His early pace carried through to the second session, where he ended ahead of Lando Norris and George Russell at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.

The two sessions offered slightly different tests. The first included a substantial number of rookie appearances, while the second brought regular drivers back into their cars and provided a broader comparison. Leclerc remained at the head of the times on both occasions.

Ferrari starts Friday strongly

Leclerc’s best lap in the opening session was 1:18.128. Kimi Antonelli was next, 0.659 seconds behind, with Frederik Vesti third. Formula 1’s official report highlighted both Leclerc’s pace and the new faces gaining experience during the hour.

Friday practice provides the first working picture of a weekend rather than a final competitive order. Teams use the running to learn about tyres, balance and the circuit’s demands. Topping the session nevertheless gives a team a positive starting point and a performance reference for the work that follows.

Ferrari’s advantage was reinforced when Leclerc repeated the result later in the day. Doing so in a second session is more useful than producing a single isolated quick lap, even though the conditions and programmes still require careful interpretation.

A busier second session

Formula 1 reported that ten drivers had given up their cars for the first session, leaving many regulars with running to recover in FP2. That made the second hour an important part of their preparation.

The session included difficulties elsewhere. Esteban Ocon reported a power-steering problem, while Lewis Hamilton was instructed to stop his car before the end of his programme. Leclerc also had an unsettled moment before producing representative lap times, a reminder that even the fastest driver was still exploring the car’s limits.

By the finish, Norris and Russell were the nearest names behind him, followed by Antonelli and Max Verstappen. Leclerc’s lap of 1:17.827 improved on his opening-session benchmark.

What Friday’s pace means

For Ferrari, the encouraging part is the consistency of the headline result. Leclerc was quick in the opening hour and remained quick when the field’s regular drivers had more opportunity to run.

The next challenge is to carry that performance into the sessions that determine the grid and the race. Practice pace can identify promise, but qualifying asks for a lap under a different kind of pressure, and the Grand Prix tests tyre management and execution over a much longer distance.

Leclerc’s Friday therefore offers Ferrari a strong foundation rather than a completed job. Two sessions at the top put him firmly in the weekend’s early conversation, with the competitive answers still to come when the practice programmes give way to qualifying and racing.