Leclerc Sweeps Mexico Friday Practice as Hamilton Stops and Verstappen Collides

Charles Leclerc ended Friday at the Mexico City Grand Prix as the fastest driver on track, completing a clean sweep of practice at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. The Ferrari driver set the pace in the opening session with a 1 minute 18.128 seconds lap, finishing 0.659 seconds clear of Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, with Frederik Vesti — standing in for George Russell — a further tenth back in third. The first hour was crowded with new faces, as ten of the eleven teams ran young drivers and only Ferrari kept its regular line-up. Isack Hadjar had to coast his Red Bull back to the pits with a power unit issue approaching the ten-minute mark, while Leclerc became the first driver below the 1 minute 20 seconds barrier on the hard tyre before improving on softs. The second session proved far more eventful. Max Verstappen set an early benchmark before colliding bizarrely with former Red Bull team-mate Liam Lawson through the stadium section, bringing out a red flag; Lawson needed a new front wing while Verstappen carried bargeboard damage. Lewis Hamilton then lost all power from Turn 13 and was ordered to stop on track, ending his session early. Leclerc regrouped to post a 1 minute 17.827 seconds lap, denying Norris and standings leader Antonelli before Russell improved to third, just 0.003 seconds behind the McLaren driver. Practice three takes place on Saturday at 11:30 local time, ahead of qualifying at 15:00.