Charles Leclerc set the pace in both of Friday's practice sessions for the Mexico City Grand Prix, but Ferrari's day was clouded by a stoppage for Lewis Hamilton, according to La Gazzetta dello Sport. The Italian outlet reported that Hamilton had flagged a loss of power shortly before he came to a halt on track during the second session.
La Gazzetta dello Sport also reported that a collision between Liam Lawson and Max Verstappen near the stadium section scattered debris across the track and brought out a red flag. The outlet described the contact as remarkable and as carrying a serious risk of a larger incident.
Why it matters
The session results matter beyond Friday's timesheet. Mercedes sits atop the constructors' standings with 607 points, with Ferrari second on 474 and Red Bull third on 355, level with McLaren but ahead on earlier results, according to La Gazzetta dello Sport. Every practice run at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez feeds into a weekend that could decide the drivers' title.
Kimi Antonelli arrives in Mexico City on the brink of his first world championship. La Gazzetta dello Sport reports that the Mercedes driver holds a 123-point lead over teammate George Russell and needs just two more points to become the youngest champion in Formula 1 history. A ninth-place finish or better would seal the title regardless of what his rivals do. Even without scoring, he could still be crowned if neither Russell nor Hamilton wins.
Leclerc ahead in both sessions
Leclerc's best lap of the opening session was a 1'18"128, with Antonelli second on 1'18"787 and Mercedes teammate Frederic Vesti third on 1'18"861. Hamilton, fourth in that session, was 0.738 seconds off his teammate's benchmark. Yuki Iwasa placed fifth for Red Bull, ahead of Pierre Gasly, Fernando Alonso, Oscar Piastri, Oliver Bearman and Arvid Lindblad, who completed the top ten.
The order shifted early in the second session. La Gazzetta dello Sport reported that Isack Hadjar moved to the front ahead of Antonelli before Leclerc took over with a 1'18"257, followed by Hamilton, then Piastri and Lando Norris. The outlet noted that every regular race driver took the wheel during the session.
The first session had opened with Hamilton's Ferrari the first car out and Antonelli close behind. Bearman briefly brought out a yellow flag when he stopped at the side of the track, but the Englishman was able to get going again. La Gazzetta dello Sport reported that many race drivers handed their cars to junior and test drivers for that session, with the full list of participants published by the outlet.
A home weekend with history behind it
The race is held over Mexico's Day of the Dead weekend, a commemoration the outlet describes as deeply felt in the country. Local favourite Sergio Pérez is due to make his 300th grand prix start on Sunday. La Gazzetta dello Sport traces his career from a 2011 debut with Sauber in Australia, where he finished seventh before being disqualified over a rear-wing infringement, through 37 starts and three podiums with the Swiss team, a single season at McLaren in 2013, and 99 races with Force India and five more podiums. He stayed through the team's rebranding as Racing Point, taking his first F1 win at the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix in his penultimate race for the outfit, then moved to Red Bull for 2021, where he won five times and reached 29 podiums across 90 starts. After a year away from the sport, he returned this season with Cadillac.
The circuit's record books belong largely to two names. Jim Clark holds the most pole positions here, having started first in 1963, 1964, 1965 and 1967. Verstappen's five wins make him the most successful driver at the venue, with victories in 2017 and 2018 and three in a row from 2021 to 2023, all for Red Bull. That run also makes Red Bull the most successful team here, one win clear of McLaren. Lotus, Williams, Mercedes and Ferrari follow with three wins each. McLaren and Ferrari are the only teams to have won in all three eras of the circuit: McLaren with Denny Hulme in 1969, Alain Prost in 1988 and Ayrton Senna in 1989, and Norris last year; Ferrari with Jacky Ickx in 1970, Prost in 1990 and Carlos Sainz in 2024.
This is the sixth running of the Mexico City Grand Prix, a name the race took on in 2021. Before that, 20 world championship Mexican Grands Prix were held across the circuit's various layouts, beginning between 1963 and 1970 when the track was known as Magdalena Mixhuca, returning from 1986 to 1992 under the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez name, and resuming in 2015, with the 2020 edition the only break, caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
What to watch
With Hamilton's power unit under scrutiny and the title mathematically within Antonelli's reach, Saturday's qualifying will show whether Ferrari can convert Leclerc's Friday speed into a front-row start — and whether Hamilton's car is fit to join him.
