Charles Leclerc sends ominous message as Colton Herta takes huge step towards F1 in Mexico FP1

Charles Leclerc topped the first free practice session at the Mexico City Grand Prix, going six-and-a-half tenths quicker than Kimi Antonelli in second.

Fred Vesti, in place of George Russell, was third-fastest at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Ayumu Iwasa, who was deputising for Max Verstappen.

The Mercedes driver was the lead rookie in a session that featured 10 of them; only Ferrari ruined the full-house fun by opting against surrendering one of the SF-26s to a junior driver.

Perhaps the most consequential running came for Colton Herta, who completed 24 laps — and therefore 100km — during the session in Valtteri Bottas' Cadillac.

By doing so, the American earned his FIA Super Licence, taking a considerable step towards his goal of racing in F1.

[Full FP1 report continues below]

Opening 30 minutes

The action for a busy FP1 session kicked off immediately when the first hour of running at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez began, with the vast majority of the field filing out of the pit lane.

With 10 rookies taking part in the session, all were keen to get as much time on track as possible. Herta, in pursuit of 24 laps to earn his 40th and decisive FIA Super Licence point, pushed his way into the fast lane, with the nine-time IndyCar winner vying for Valtteri Bottas' Cadillac seat, despite a disappointing F2 campaign.

Antonelli, despite having his first push lap deleted for track limits after a messy final sector, led the way early on with an effort in the low 1:20s.

Leclerc brought the hammer down and was quickest as the session reached the one-third distance point, the Ferrari driver putting in a 1:19.197 with Antonelli three tenths off by that stage.

Hadjar was enduring a torrid time of things. Having complained of "something wrong" over team radio, the Frenchman returned to the pits, with his Red Bull seemingly nursing a power unit issue.

Leonardo Fornaroli, deputising for Lando Norris, suffered a huge snap through Turn 11, drifting the McLaren to display impressive car control, having been unsettled by a rival ahead through the tricky esses section.

Numerous drivers experienced moments of their own, including Oscar Piastri in the sister MCL40, who found the grass at Turn 1, doing the floor of his car no favours.

Hamilton, having completed airflow experiments, had the aerodynamic rake removed from his SF-26 for some representative running. The seven-time F1 drivers' immediately slotted into third, seven tenths slower than his team-mate.

Freddie Slater suffered a disastrous half an hour, putting in only six sighter laps, including one with a fan still attached to the right-hand sidepod of his Audi.

That will lead to a fine from the FIA, and it looked to be the reason for the team telling him to switch the engine off when he returned to the garage; his afternoon was over — or so the team suggested.

Second half

Leclerc continued to bring the hammer down, reducing the benchmark to a 1:18.128, beating his — and the session's — best time from FP1 in Mexico 12 months ago, which was a 1:18.380.

Pierre Gasly was enjoying a strong start to his weekend, up in fourth for Alpine with a 1:19.210, just ahead of the leading rookie, Iwasa in Max Verstappen's RB22.

Fred Vesti soon bested the Red Bull driver, slotting in third, less than a tenth of a second slower than Antonelli.

Moments later, another rookie runner, Jak Crawford, was instructed to stop Lance Stroll's Aston Martin, bringing out a virtual safety car.

When the session resumed at full speed, Slater produced somewhat of a plot twist by returning to the fray, with Audi having remedied whatever was ailing his R26.

The British driver eventually popped a time on the board, only quick enough for P21. He also emulated Piastri by running over the grass through the Turns 1-3 complex.

Nikola Tsolov, who was P12 in Liam Lawson's Racing Bulls car, suffered from a dead right leg and had to shake it out before returning to the cockpit and the circuit in the final few minutes. The Bulgarian would have had a complete seat fit and has run in older F1 cars, but is taller than both Lawson and Arvid Lindblad, around whom the VCARB 03 was designed.

Fernando Alonso popped up in seventh, the best finish for Aston Martin in any session all season, underlining the continued progress at the Silverstone-based squad.

In the dying moments, Herta completed his 24th and most important lap, earning himself the final point towards his FIA Super Licence.