George Russell was fastest in first practice for the Mexico City Grand Prix after championship leader Max Verstappen suffered engine problems.
Alex Albon suffered a heavy crash in his Williams following a tangle with Oliver Bearman, bringing the session to a halt, but Russell made the perfect start for Mercedes by running 0.317s faster than Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz.
There was concern at Red Bull when Verstappen reported on the team radio towards the end of practice that he had “no power”. So he limped into the pit lane and missed the final five minutes, but finished the session in fourth place behind RB’s Yuki Tsunoda.
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Red Bull’s Max Verstappen had to pull into the pitlane after suffering engine problems during first practice in Mexico.
Verstappen, who will face a grid penalty once his car is fitted with a new engine, also lost time early in the session when he jumped over debris and caused a brief red flag.
The Dutchman is 57 points ahead of Lando Norris in the Drivers’ Championship with five rounds remaining, but McLaren sought to overturn the penalty awarded to Norris in last Sunday’s dramatic United States Grand Prix. Norris was then penalized 5 seconds. Dropped him behind Verstappen.
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Sky F1’s Karun Chandhok was at SkyPad to assess whether Lando Norris should be punished for overtaking title rival Max Verstappen at the United States Grand Prix.
Norris did not take part in Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez’s first practice with McLaren, with the other four teams opting to have a rookie driver behind the wheel in one of their cars as part of a mandatory requirement to use rookies in at least two practice sessions. season.
IndyCar star Pato O’Ward drove Norris’ car in front of the home fans, while Andrea Kimi Antonelli took over Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes before replacing the seven-time world champion next year.
Antonelli had a clean session and finished 12th ahead of O’Ward, followed by other rookies Felipe Drugovich, Robert Shwartzman and Bearman.
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Kimi Antonelli, who was replacing Lewis Hamilton during opening practice, crashed into the wreckage of his Mercedes when the red flag went off.
Albon’s dramatic crash after Bearman tangle
Bearman, who replaced Charles Leclerc at Ferrari, had a dramatic collision with Albon during first practice in Mexico City.
Albon was on a flying lap, but lost control of his car through the high-speed center section of Turn Nine and collected Bearman on the exit of the corner.
The Williams driver’s left rear wheel flew into the air but was held to the car by ropes as Albon spun into the barrier at Turn 10 and immediately called Bearman a “fool” on the radio.
Williams team principal James Vowles said: Sky Sports F1: “It’s frustrating. We need to look into what the reason is. Alex had to back out of that situation and lost the car at the top.
“The car didn’t come that far. I remembered it because I saw another car (Bearman).”
“If the chassis is fine, the FP2 will be fine. If the chassis is damaged, it’s a bit more critical in terms of time (repair).”
Williams faces a race to get the car ready for second practice at 11pm in England on Friday. In this exercise, the session was extended to 90 minutes to allow Pirelli to test tires for next year.
Live Mexico City GP schedule on Sky Sports F1
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Take a look back at some of the most dramatic moments from the Mexico City Grand Prix.
Friday, October 25
9pm: F1 Show
10:45 PM: Mexico City GP Practice 2 (session starts 11 PM)*
Saturday, October 26th
6.15pm: Mexico City GP Practice 3 (session starts at 6.30pm)
9pm: Preparing for Mexico City GP qualifying*
10pm: Mexico City GP Qualifying*
Sunday, October 27
6.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Mexico City GP strengthened*
8 p.m.: Mexico City Grand Prix*
10pm: Checkered flag: Mexico City GP reaction
*Also shown live on Sky Sports Main Event (race build-up from 7.30pm on Sunday).
Formula 1’s Americas Triple Heading continues this weekend with the Mexico City Grand Prix, with all sessions broadcast live on Sky Sports F1. Stream every F1 race and more with a NOW Sports Month membership. There is no contract and you can cancel at any time.
