Mexico Grand Prix – Free Practice 1: Day of firsts behind Verstappen

Isack Hadjar at AlphaTauri, Jack Doohan at Alpine, Théo Pourchaire at Alfa Romeo, Frederik Vesti at Mercedes, and Oliver Bearman at Haas: it was time for these drivers to finally get behind the wheel of an F1 car. This was, among other things, a first time for the Frenchman Hadjar.

It was time, at 8:30 pm French time, to discover or rediscover the Mexico track. The bad weather from the day before quickly gave way to bright sunshine, which was already giving food for thought to the teams, from a strategic standpoint for Sunday.

The two Aston Martin cars, in the order of Fernando Alonso – Lance Stroll, were the first to hit the tarmac, despite having a very unperforming car in the past few Grand Prix.

Isack Hadjar followed shortly after for his very first appearance on stage. He was equipped with C4 tire prototypes, just like Fernando Alonso, outfitted with sensors. As for Théo Pourchaire, he immediately returned, citing a brake pedal issue.

Each driver shares their observations, whether it’s the anti-stalling issue with Isack Hadjar or a metallic noise with Charles Leclerc. And along the way, Alexander Albon set the first “sustainable” best time of the session, ahead of Max Verstappen and Sergio Pérez’s Red Bulls.

The unlucky one of the day was named Jack Doohan: The Australian was forced to stay in the pit for a while, with the engine hood removed.

Isack Hadjar lost a quite important piece that was lying on the track, and Carlos Sainz lost his power steering and clutch. Caramba, as Hispanophones say! The problems kept happening from one car to another, probably due to the high altitude (over 2,000 meters).

It took 20 minutes to see the first soft tires appear: Oscar Piastri, in his McLaren, chose this option, but it was widely insufficient to reach Max Verstappen’s 1:20.245. On the other hand, Alexander Albon fell short by only four tiny milliseconds! The Thai driver seems to be in good form on this track.

Even if the hierarchy was not very clear, with the prototype tire relays, Théo Pourchaire continued to accumulate problems with his brake pedal. The adjustment seemed too long.

Everyone is speeding up.

Despite switching to soft tires, Charles Leclerc failed to set the fastest time, falling short by 52 milliseconds behind Verstappen. Either the red tires are not effective or the Ferrari will lack pace…or perhaps both.

But Lando Norris was able to better exploit the highest performing tires and took, by just eight thousandths, the new session record. But the Dutchman is already (let’s not mince words) showing himself as the winner of the Mexican Grand Prix. Given his pace, only a problem with his Red Bull could stop him.

On the French side, Isack Hadjar showed rather good performance, with a provisional 11th place 20 minutes before the end, Esteban Ocon in 8th place, and Théo Pourchaire, still hindered by pedal problems, was unable to even set a lap time.

The complete opposite of Alexander Albon who, while not managing to match Verstappen’s pace, finished 2nd, showcasing a promising weekend!

The Aston Martin, on the other hand, suffers from excessive understeer and excessive tire wear. Fernando Alonso, in a decent lap, lost everything in the entrance of the stadium.

At the end of this session, Max Verstappen and Alexander Albon were neck and neck. Among the young drivers, the best representative was Oliver Bearman, ahead of Isack Hadjar. Théo Pourchaire was unable to complete a lap time.