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
Saturday 28 October 2023 00:50, UK
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 adrift to split the Red Bulls, although under-pressure Sergio Perez still started his home race weekend in solid enough style by taking third place in a time which was a respectable 0.297s back on his team-mate.
McLaren's in-form Lando Norris was fourth, half a second slower than Verstappen, with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc in 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.
"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."
Second practice follows live on Sky Sports F1 at 11pm on Friday night.
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 hydraulics 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.
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 amid braking problems 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."
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
