Everything that happened in first Mexican GP F1 practice

Carlos Sainz led a Ferrari 1-2 in a twice red-flagged first practice session for Formula 1’s Mexican Grand Prix.

Key moments

– Sainz leads Leclerc in Ferrari 1-2
– Verstappen has a spin
– Fittipaldi and Lawson cause red flags
– Problems for Doohan too

Ferrari superiority was established on the soft-tyre runs after a slightly disrupted start to its session when Charles Leclerc was called back to the pits with a puncture.

But Leclerc then went top on softs when his session began in earnest, before being outpaced by 0.046s by team-mate Sainz – who put in a 1m20.707s lap.

The Red Bulls of home hero Sergio Perez and world champion Max Verstappen ended up on identical times in third and fourth, 0.120s off the pace.

Verstappen had an unusually scruffy session: spinning in the Esses early on while on course to go fastest, and slewing onto the run-off area in the stadium section in the closing stages.

Max got a little dizzy during first practice 😵‍💫#MexicoGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/lHXH8yBHH0

— Formula 1 (@F1) October 28, 2022

Lewis Hamilton was fifth for Mercedes, within 0.142s of the top spot.

But he was also responsible for an alarming moment in the stadium when driving slowly on a cool-down lap. He moved across the track to make space just as Daniel Ricciardo’s McLaren approached at massively greater speed. Ricciardo had earlier lost time in the pits with brake problems.

The two red flags were caused by mechanical problems for rookie stand-in drivers.

Pietro Fittipaldi’s MGU-K issue may well mean a component change penalty for the Haas’s regular driver Kevin Magnussen, based on team principal Guenther Steiner’s initial reaction.

🚩 RED FLAG 🚩

Pietro Fittipaldi is told to pull over as he exits the pits, and he jumps out of the car on the exit of Turn 3#MexicoGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/LrrvlACYcw

— Formula 1 (@F1) October 28, 2022

Liam Lawson then caused the session to end slightly early when he had to park the smoking AlphaTauri usually driven by Yuki Tsunoda.

Alpine protege Jack Doohan also had a disrupted morning in Esteban Ocon’s car and had to abandon running early due to anomalous engine data.

It wasn’t only the stand-ins in trouble: Zhou Guanyu parked his Alfa Romeo in the pitlane just before Fittipaldi’s drama.

Two Friday guests seemed to have smooth sessions at least: Williams’s likely 2023 signing Logan Sargeant going 17th in Alex Albon’s usual car and Nyck de Vries 18th on his final appearance for Mercedes.

Practice 1 Results