2025 F1 Mexico City Grand Prix - Friday Practice as it happened

Charles Leclerc set the pace in first practice, a tenth clear of Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, but FP1 was dominated by rookies. 

The track was green and therefore not very representative. Things will ramp up even more in FP2, so we should get a better idea of where the teams will stack up this weekend, particularly with the likes of Max Verstappen, Lando Norris, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell returning to their cars. 

We are just half an hour away from second practice in Mexico.

Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies has admitted his side went too far in their efforts to remove tape from Lando Norris’s race start grid spots.

Red Bull were hit with a €50,000 fine, half of which is suspended on the condition a repeat offence is avoided, after one of their team members entered the grid after the start of the formation lap ahead of last weekend’s United States Grand Prix.

This was during a failed attempt to remove tape from the pit wall that Norris was using as a visual aid to ensure his car was properly positioned in its grid slot.

“I think there have been a bit of silly games being played for a few races between the teams and it probably got out of hand,” Mekies told Sky Sports F1. “Moving forward it will be more in control.”

We are an hour out from second practice at the Mexico City Grand Prix.

Regular drivers including Max Verstappen, Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton will all return to action in FP2. 

Laurent Mekies insists Red Bull are in no "rush" to finalise their driver line-up at both the senior team and Racing Bulls for 2026. 

"We want to give Yuki and all our other drivers as much time as we can,” Mekies told Sky Sports F1 at the Mexico City Grand Prix.

"I know we said in the past we may decide after Mexico but, really, there is no need for us to rush anything. He did a very good race in Austin. We will take our time and when we feel ready, we will do it, no need to rush.”

Red Bull boss Laurent Mekies has revealed teams lost GPS data during first practice in Mexico City.

Arvid Lindblad has been summoned to see the stewards over an alleged blocking incident, but the loss of GPS could explain why that occurred. 

"All the teams lost GPS in the session, so it was difficult with traffic," Mekies told Sky Sports F1. 

"We took the decision to leave Arvid on low-ish fuel to not give him the complication of high and low fuel.

"He did a very good job. It's so difficult to jump in. The pace is there, so not much to argue against that."

An impressive showing from Sauber in FP1, with Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto sitting third and fifth.

Arvid Lindblad has just gone fifth fastest on a set of soft tyres. 

The Red Bull stand in is six tenths off the pace but two places and a tenth quicker than Yuki Tsunoda. 

Isack Hadjar briefly caused a yellow flag a short while ago as he ended up in the run-off area. He managed to avoid further drama and got going again with no harm done. 

Frederik Vesti is the fastest rookie in 11th for Mercedes. 

He is three-tenths clear of Haas's Rio Hirakawa, with Ayumu Iwasa 13th for Racing Bulls ahead of Williams junior Luke Browning.

Paul Aron sits 15th for Alpine, ahead of Aston Martin's Jak Crawford. 

Arvid Lindblad is 18th in Max Verstappen's Red Bull, with Pato O'Ward 19th for McLaren and Antonio Fuoco the slowest rookie in 20th. 

Charles Leclerc goes for another soft tyre run and shoots to the top of the timesheet in his Ferrari, a tenth clear of Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli. 

Kimi Antonelli sets a new benchmark in his Mercedes to go quickest with a 1m18.487s.

Nico Hulkenberg is second, two tenths back, with Oscar Piastri third and Charles Leclerc fourth as more drivers complete soft tyre laps. 

The Autodromo Hermonos Rodrigues circuit is evolving fast. 

Oscar Piastri is the first driver to put a set of soft tyres on.

He duly goes on to set the fastest time with a 1m19.035s in his McLaren.

That's nearly a second faster than Isack Hadjar's effort on mediums. 

It appears Isack Hadjar took that personally. Almost immediately, the Racing Bulls driver reclaims top spot with a 1m20.005s to edge Kimi Antonelli by 0.030s.

Hadjar set his best time on mediums, with Antonelli still running the hards. 

A change at the top as Kimi Antonelli goes fastest with a 1m20.035s in his Mercedes. 

That puts him just 0.093s clear of Isack Hadjar. 

Isack Hadjar continues to lead the way, two and a bit tenths clear of Esteban Ocon, who has improved to second in his Haas.

The top two are using medium tyres, with the rest of the top 10 on hards bar Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg, who has just been shuffled down to fifth as Kimi Antonelli improved to third. 

1. Isack Hadjar (mediums)
2. Yuki Tsunoda (hard)
3. Esteban Ocon (medium)
4. Nico Hulkenberg (medium)
5. Kimi Antonelli (hard)
6. Alex Albon (hard)
7. Arvid Lindblad (hard)
8. Charles Leclerc (hard)
9. Franco Colapinto (hard)
10. Oscar Piastri (hard)

Interestingly, Alpine have set up a pretty public audition by putting Paul Aron up against Franco Colapinto in this session. 

According to Alpine, one of these two drivers will get the final seat at the team alongside Pierre Gasly for next season. 

Colapinto has the upper hand in the early stages of FP1 in sixth, with Aron down in 18th. 

Antonio Fuoco is driving Lewis Hamilton's Ferrari in this session. He's currently down in P17, with Charles Leclerc third. 

Championship leader Oscar Piastri now goes fastest with a 1m21.570s as times continue to improve with the track rapidly evolving. 

So much so, that pretty much every time I type an update, another driver shoots to the top of the timesheet.

Isack Hadjar, rumoured to be getting the Red Bull drive for 2026, sets the early pace for Racing Bulls with a 1m22.001s.

That puts him eight tenths clear of Yuki Tsunoda, the driver he is expected to replace next year. 

First practice is underway in Mexico City as Frederik Vesti heads out in the Mercedes.