Second is Kimi Antonelli, behind him, Hülkenberg. Fourth time for the world championship leader, Piastri, who took part in the session unlike his title rivals Norris and Verstappen
The weekend in Mexico begins well for Ferrari: Charles Leclerc in fact ends the first free practice session in the lead. Second position for Kimi Antonelli, behind him Nico Hülkenberg. Fourth time for World Championship leader Oscar Piastri, who took part in the session unlike his title rivals Lando Norris and Max Verstappen, who left their cars to Patricio O’Ward and Arvid Lindblad respectively, two of the nine rookies who took part in FP1. Fifth position for Gabriel Bortoleto, behind him Lindblad, who managed to obtain the best time among the rookies with Verstappen’s Red Bull. Seventh was Esteban Ocon, who finished ahead of Tuki Tsunoda. Ninth position for Franco Colapinto, Alex Albon closes the top 10.
start of session
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In view of the Mexican weekend, which will be extreme in terms of weather conditions as the circuit is located at over two thousand meters above sea level, almost all the teams have worked on the bonnet of their single-seaters, creating openings in this area of the car to better manage the temperatures of the Power Unit. There are large openings on the SF-25, while McLaren has carried out minimal interventions on the MCL39. It should also be noted that Red Bull has brought several updates to Verstappen’s car, a further sign that the Milton Keynes team believes in the Dutchman’s comeback attempt. Almost all the drivers began their activity on the hard tyre, completing several laps to gain confidence around the curves of the Hermanos Rodríguez racetrack. Very high times at the beginning of the session.
mid and end of session
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With 37 minutes to go Antonelli was in the lead, followed by Hadjar and Tsunoda. A few minutes later the Frenchman ousted the Mercedes driver, taking the lead. With 34 minutes to go Piastri took to the track on the soft tyre. The Australian completed a lap in 1.19.035, moving into first position almost a second ahead of Hadjar. The World Championship leader’s time was then beaten by Antonelli, while Leclerc moved up to third. Second half for Hulkenberg with 27 minutes to go, while Tsunoda moved up to fifth place. Shortly afterwards Leclerc took the lead. In this phase of the session the times continued to improve. In the last quarter of an hour of the session several riders tested the race pace.
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