Mexico City GP: Max Verstappen just ahead of Williams’ Alex Albon in Practice One while rookie drivers hit the track

James Galloway

Senior Sports Journalist

Just 0.095 seconds separated Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Williams’ Alex Albon in first practice in Mexico City; Home favourite Sergio Perez third, with Lewis Hamilton in 11th after error on his final quick lap; watch Practice Two live on Sky Sports F1 at 11pm

Last Updated: 27/10/23 9:31pm


Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Friday or Sunday?! Watch as Lando Norris and Sergio Perez fight for track position in FP1 at the Mexico City GP.

Friday or Sunday?! Watch as Lando Norris and Sergio Perez fight for track position in FP1 at the Mexico City GP.

Williams’ Alex Albon made an eye-catching start to the Mexico City Grand Prix weekend to run pacesetter Max Verstappen very close in Practice One at the atmospheric Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

Verstappen started a weekend where he can claim a record 16th win of the season by setting the quickest time in the first hour of practice, 1:19.718.

But Albon finished just 0.095s behind to split the Red Bulls, with under-pressure Sergio Perez starting his home race weekend in solid style by taking third place in a best time a respectable 0.297 back on his team-mate.

McLaren’s in-form Lando Norris was fourth, half a second back on Verstappen, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc fifth.

Lewis Hamilton, who believes Mercedes could challenge Verstappen for the second successive race here, had a low-key start to the weekend as the team initially trialled test items.

The seven-time champion eventually finished one second off the pace in 11th place but Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said the seven-time champion would have still finished at the sharp end but for an error on his best lap.

“Interesting session for us,” Wolff told Sky Sports F1. “We got through a lot of test items at the beginning, which isn’t good for lap time but was necessary. Lots of measurements on ride height and plank wear.

Martin Brundle, Danica Patrick and Jenson Button discuss why more cars weren't inspected after the United States GP following Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc's disqualification.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Martin Brundle, Danica Patrick and Jenson Button discuss why more cars weren’t inspected after the United States GP following Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc’s disqualification.

Martin Brundle, Danica Patrick and Jenson Button discuss why more cars weren’t inspected after the United States GP following Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc’s disqualification.

“It was a good session. Lewis made a mistake on his fast lap and would have been around P2 or P3, so that’s OK.”

Pirelli conducted another of their tests with development tyres during the session, which all cars had to try. McLaren’s Oscar Piastri set his best time of the session on the test compound and was sixth fastest.

Carlos Sainz experienced a disrupted session in the second Ferrari, which ran in to early hyrdraulics issues and requires extra time in the garage. The Spaniard, who briefly ran off track at one early point of the session, recovered to set the seventh-quickest time ahead of AlphaTauri’s Daniel Ricciardo and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon.

Rookie drivers given rare chance to impress in F1 practice action

Under the sport’s rookie driver rules, which mandate that teams must give over two first practice sessions during a season to drivers with fewer than three grands prix starts to their name, five rising stars were given invaluable running time at the top level in Practice One.

Britain’s Ferrari-affiliated Oliver Bearman made his P1 debut with Haas and the 18-year-old caught the eye to set the pace among the five inexperienced runners. A late lap took the Formula 2 race winner to 15th, just 0.3 slower than Nico Hulkenberg in the sister car.

But it was a nightmare second outing at the top level for F2 championship leader Theo Pourchaire, who was unable to complete a timed lap due to problem on his Alfa Romeo.

Red Bull junior Isack Hadjar took his AlphaTauri to 17th place, with Alpine’s Jack Doohan one tenth slower in 18th. Mercedes junior Frederik Vesti was 19th quickest in George Russell’s Mercedes.

“It was a baptism of fire for most of them,” said Sky Sports F1’s Martin Brundle. “They were pushing hard. Young Bearman went straight out of the pits and was hanging it out.

“I don’t think it did him a lot of good in the end, but I did admire his spirit. It’s so important for the young drivers to get this experience, though.”

Mexico City GP Practice One Timesheet

Driver Team Time
1. Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:19.718
2. Alex Albon Williams +0.095
3. Sergio Perez Red Bull +0.297
4. Lando Norris McLaren +0.519
5. Charles Leclerc Ferrari +0.579
6. Oscar Piastri McLaren +0.745
7. Carlos Sainz Ferrari +0.761
8. Daniel Ricciardo AlphaTauri +0.850
9. Esteban Ocon Alpine +0.959
10. Lance Stroll Aston Martin +0.969
11. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +1.006
12. Nico Hulkenberg Haas +1.250
13. Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo +1.411
14. Logan Sargeant Williams +1.439
15. Oliver Bearman Haas +1.595
16. Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +1.629
17. Isack Hadjar AlphaTauri +2.223
18. Jack Doohan Alpine +2.391
19. Frederik Vesti Mercedes +3.219
20. Theo Pourchaire Alfa Romeo No time set

When to watch the Mexico City GP live only on Sky Sports F1

Friday
8:45pm: The F1 Show
10:45pm: Mexico City GP Practice Two (also on Sky Sports Main Event)

Saturday
6.15pm: Mexico City GP Practice Three
9pm: Mexico City GP Qualifying build-up (also on Sky Sports Main Event)
10pm: Mexico City GP Qualifying (also on Sky Sports Main Event)

Sunday
6.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday Mexico City GP build-up (also on Sky Sports Main Event)
8pm: The MEXICO CITY GRAND PRIX (also on Sky Sports Main Event)
10pm: Chequered Flag: Mexico City GP

F1 is in Mexico for the middle leg of the Americas triple header. Watch the whole Mexico City Grand Prix weekend live on Sky Sports F1 from Friday, with Sunday’s race at 8pm. Stream F1 on Sky Sports with NOW

FOLLOW US ON GOOGLE NEWS

Read original article here

Denial of responsibility! Todays Chronic is an automatic aggregator of the all world’s media. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, all materials to their authors. If you are the owner of the content and do not want us to publish your materials, please contact us by email – todayschronic.com. The content will be deleted within 24 hours.

Leave a Comment