Formula 1 cars returned to the tarmac of Mexico for the first time since 2019, and were greeted by monumental levels of dust as the best hoovers on the planet got to work.
Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton are both looking to become three time winners in Mexico, and it was the Dutchman who ended Friday with his name at the top of the timesheets. During his sole run on the soft compound of tyres in the afternoon session, Verstappen’s time of 1:17.301s set him clear of the field by 0.424s – as Red Bull look to confirm their status as favourites.
The Mercedes duo followed suit, with Valtteri Bottas edging ahead of Hamilton by less then a tenth. Hamilton seemed to struggle with the overall balance of his machine, contributing to his deficit of half a second to his rival. However, the pace over a race run seemed to be within more then touching distance against the two Red Bull cars.
Whilst the home driver of Sergio Perez was well received, the Mexican man fell just short of Hamilton’s time at the end of the day. But, Friday did not start as he would have planned, as an early trip backwards into the barrier at the final corner cost him half of the morning session. Still, he remains to be up where he needs to be.
Whilst the top four were covered by half a second, the gap to the following pack trailed by a similar gap.
Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc caught Pierre Gasly in a Ferrari sandwich with fifth and seventh, but over a second adrift from the top. The drifting Leclerc seemed to be influence Perez, as the Monegasque travelled rear wards into the barrier at the final corner, damaging his rear wing and also losing the majority of his morning session.
Actually, it was an Italian quartet as both AlphaTauri’s followed a Ferrari. Gasly would trail Sainz by a tenth, whilst Yuki Tsunoda followed a further two tenths behind in eighth. Tsunoda was able to continue his new found form, whilst all four Honda powered cars found success later on in sectors two and three.
Aston Martin had mixed fortunes, with one of their drivers in the top ten whilst the other languished down in 17th. Sebastian Vettel seemed to cruise through an easy day, despite a slight slip up in the pit lane. Lance Stroll however could not seem to keep his machine under his control, and could only lap a full second away from his teammate.
Rounding out the top ten was one Fernando Alonso who, apart from a slight amount of oversteer in the middle sector, seemed to have a relatively calm day – lapping 1.4s away. Esteban Ocon did not enjoy the same calmness, with countless moments of oversteer causing him to fill the 14th slot.
Falling just outside the top ten was Kimi Raikkonen who leads the Alfa Romeo team after a promising opening day. The Finn trailed fellow veteran Alonso by just over a tenth, as Antonio Giovinazzi trapped Lando Norris in another sandwich but fell four tenths behind his counterpart.
Now, McLaren seemed to struggle with many things with initial pace being a problem. With Norris down in 12th and trailing by 1.6s – Daniel Ricciardo suffered a gearbox issue after just seven laps in the afternoon session. Not the opening day that they would have wanted.
Barring the two Mercedes cars, the runners with their power units seemed to struggle to find potential to maximise their package on a dusty Friday.
Someone who did have a solid day was Mick Schumacher who fulfilled the 16th slot, a full 1.9s clear from his teammate Nikita Mazepin. The Russian would be the last runner on the time sheets having completed a lap time – 4.2s away from the pace setter.
The struggling Mercedes runners continued as Williams could only place their cars in 18th and 20th. Nicholas Latifi ended the day leading the team despite following in Leclerc’s and Perez’s footsteps by visiting the outside barrier at the final corner, late into the session. It was however worse for George Russell who could only complete a mere two laps before running into technical problems, scrapping his entire session.
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