George Russell put Mercedes quickest of all in the first practice session for the Mexican Grand Prix after a crash between Alexander Albon and Oliver Bearman.
The Mercedes driver was fastest by three tenths from Carlos Sainz Jnr in a disjointed session, with Yuki Tsunoda third ahead of Max Verstappen.
The opening session of the weekend saw several drives vacate their cars to allow for junior drivers to participate in the session. Andrea Kimi Antonelli stepped into the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton that he will take over next season, with IndyCar star Pato O’Ward getting the opportunity to drive at his home grand prix in Lando Norris’s McLaren. Oliver Bearman replaced Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari, with Felipe Drugovich taking over Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin and Robert Shwartzman driving Zhou Guanyu’s Sauber.
The session had barely begun when it was stopped by a red flag five minutes due to debris along the main straight that was collected by Verstappen’s Red Bull and Antonelli’s Mercedes. The session resumed soon after, with Antonelli immediately rejoining the circuit, but Verstappen’s car required a little more repairs before he could rejoin practice.
The entire field favoured the hard tyres for the first half of the session, with Sainz going quickest of all with a 1’19.407, with Russell in second, one tenth behind the Ferrari.
But then the session was red-flagged for a second time when Albon lost control of his Williams exiting turn nine, spinning into Bearman’s Ferrari on his way into the barriers. Both drivers were unharmed in the accident, but their cars were far too damaged for either to continue.
After a delay of just over 10 minutes, the session resumed for a second time with several drivers switching onto the soft tyres. Russell went quickest after the initial batch of push laps on the soft tyres, the only driver under the 1’18s with Sainz three tenths slower.
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Verstappen was one of many who moved back onto the hard tyres to put in some continuous laps. However, the championship leader reported a loss of power from his power unit and was called in to the pit lane, ending his session.
There were no improvements in lap times for any drivers at the top of the times, leaving Russell as the fastest driver at the end of the hour. Sainz was second, with Tsunoda third-fastest for RB ahead of Verstappen.
Nico Hulkenberg was fifth for Haas ahead of Oscar Piastri, who…
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