Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc led Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli in the first practice of the Mexico City Grand Prix, where the Italian is about to win his first world title. Leclerc was 0.659 seconds faster than Antonelli, for whom a ninth place finish will secure the championship regardless of any other results. Only a victory for teammate George Russell or Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton can, in theory, prevent Antonelli from becoming champion on Sunday. Even then, Antonelli only needs ninth place if Russell wins and tenth if Hamilton does. Third fastest in the session was Mercedes reserve Frederik Vesti, driving Russell’s car, ahead of Hamilton. Mercedes was one of 10 teams that chose this session to hold one of their mandatory rookie sessions. Only Ferrari had both drivers in their cars. Many teams choose Mexico City to hold their mandatory rookie sessions because the first session is traditionally not representative due to the dirty track surface. Japan’s Ayumu Iwasa, who replaced Max Verstappen at Red Bull, was fifth fastest, ahead of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso. McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, Haas’ Oliver Bearman and Racing Bulls’ Arvid Lindblad completed the race. top 10. Britain’s Freddie Slater’s first outing on a grand prix weekend for Audi did not go as planned. Reliability issues limited its run to 14 laps, about half the standard mileage. But he managed to get out during the last 20 minutes or so and clocked the 19th fastest time. He was right behind another Brit, Luke Browning, who made his last race in the Williams. American Colton Herta, whom Cadillac is considering promoting to F1 next year in place of Valtteri Bottas, was 22nd. The governing body, the FIA, says Herta, a nine-time winner in Indycar, has clocked enough miles to earn the 40 points he needs to secure the super licence. necessary to race in F1.
