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Leclerc tops rookie-filled Mexico City FP1; Crawford stops, Slater's debut derailed

Answer
Confirmed

Charles Leclerc led Free Practice 1 at the 2026 Mexico City Grand Prix with a 1:18.128, beating championship-leader Kimi Antonelli by 0.659s and rookie Frederik Vesti by 0.733s. A Virtual Safety Car was deployed when Jak Crawford's Aston Martin stopped at Turn 1 with an ERS problem. Freddie Slater's Audi F1 debut was compromised after the team sent him out with a sidepod cooling fan still attached.

Leclerc Dominates Rookie-Heavy Session

Charles Leclerc ended the session fastest for Ferrari ahead of championship leader Kimi Antonelli, and Fred Vesti [1]. Leclerc's best time was 1:18.128, with Antonelli 0.659 seconds adrift and Vesti 0.733 seconds back [2]. Lewis Hamilton initially ran behind his teammate, with his first competitive effort leaving him seven tenths adrift of Leclerc, later moving into fourth despite a mistake through the stadium section affecting his fastest lap [3].

Top Ten Classification

The top ten finishers were: Charles Leclerc (Ferrari, 1:18.128); Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes, +0.659); Fred Vesti (Mercedes, +0.733); Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari, +0.738); Ayumu Iwasa (Red Bull, +0.985); Pierre Gasly (Alpine, +1.082); Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin, +1.229); Oscar Piastri (McLaren, +1.248); Oliver Bearman (Haas, +1.284); and Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls, +1.350) [1].

Incidents and Stoppages

Slater's F1 debut was compromised at the halfway point of the session, Audi having sent the young Briton out on track with a sidepod fan still attached to the car which appeared to cause some damage to the power unit and left him in the pits for a prolonged period [4]. A brief Virtual Safety Car was deployed approaching the final 10 minutes as Jak Crawford in for Lance Stroll brought his Aston Martin to a stop at Turn 1 with a problem [4].

Red Bull's Isack Hadjar encountered power unit issues early on and only ran on hard tyres in FP1 [5]. Herta struggled to put a fast lap together but notched up 30 laps, with Cadillac claiming that Herta has now reached 40 superlicence points [5].

Mandatory Rookie FP1 Outings

The session featured 10 rookie drivers [1]. The FP1 rookies were: Frederik Vesti for George Russell at Mercedes; Ayumu Iwasa for Max Verstappen at Red Bull; Leonardo Fornaroli for Lando Norris at McLaren; Nikola Tsolov for Liam Lawson at Racing Bulls; Gabriele Mini for Franco Colapinto at Alpine; Ryo Hirakawa for Esteban Ocon at Haas; Freddie Slater for Gabriel Bortoleto at Audi; Luke Browning for Alex Albon at Williams; Jak Crawford for Lance Stroll at Aston Martin; and Colton Herta for Valtteri Bottas at Cadillac [6].

Related reading

https://www.planetf1.com/news/f1-results-mexico-grand-prix-2026-fp1 https://www.motorsportweek.com/2026/10/30/f1-2026-mexico-city-grand-prix-fp1-results/ https://www.total-motorsport.com/fp1-results-today-2026-mexico-city-gp-practice-times/ https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/fp1-leclerc-leads-antonelli-in-mexico-city-as-new-faces-make-formula-1-debuts.5IkozqYxX25QgmGJqc0NlA https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/what-happened-f1-2026-mexican-gp-first-practice/ https://www.autosport.com/f1/live-text/f1-mexico-gp-follow-fp1-in-mexico-city-with-live-timing-/1128156/

Sources
  1. [1]F1 results: Mexican Grand Prix 2026 - FP1 (planetf1). Accessed 2026-10-31.
  2. [2]F1 2026 Mexico City Grand Prix – FP1 Results (motorsportweek). Accessed 2026-10-31.
  3. [3]What happened in Mexican GP FP1 with 10 rookies (the-race). Accessed 2026-10-31.
  4. [4]2026 Mexico City Grand Prix report and highlights (formula1). Accessed 2026-10-31.
  5. [5]2026 F1 Mexico City GP – FP1 results (pitdebrief). Accessed 2026-10-31.
  6. [6]LIVE: F1 Mexico GP updates – Leclerc leads halfway through FP1 (autosport). Accessed 2026-10-31.
Published 31 Oct 2026