Impressive Russell tops FP1 as Verstappen ends F1 session with a problem

Max Verstappen finished fourth fastest but ended the session with problems with his engine. He reported over the radio that he had no power but returned to the pit lane. Perhaps crucially for Red Bull, Perez was within two-tenths of his teammate, but it cost him six places on the timesheet. Oscar Piastri finished sixth fastest in the session. Nico Hulkenberg was placed inside the top five.

What happened during FP1 in Mexico?

It's Fernando Alonso's 400th Grand Prix weekend, but he didn't compete in FP1. He was replaced by Felipe Drugovich as part of the mandatory free practice sessions for rookie drivers. The same was the case for Lewis Hamilton (Antonelli), Lando Norris (O'Ward), Charles Leclerc (Bearman), and Guanyu Zhou (Robert Shwartzman). Those drivers will get 30 minutes of bonus free practice time after FP2, but it was a super important hour for the other F1 drivers. 

The session was red-flagged after less than ten minutes. A bit of debris was spotted on the track. Andrea Kimi Antonelli ran over it but didn't seem to pick up too many issues as he returned to the circuit. It required a marshal to go and pick it up, so the track needed to be closed off from the cars. Verstappen also reported that he hit something on the circuit. The track returned to green without too much of a delay.

The track was dirty, so drivers were able to make sudden improvements. It created a timesheet that changed often, with Alex Albon once appearing as the fastest driver. Albon's time was replaced at the top of the timesheet, but the Williams driver's day didn't last much longer. Albon was pushing hard and came up behind a slower-moving Ollie Bearman, who tried to stay out of the way. Albon couldn't avoid the contact and clipped the front of the Ferrari car, damaging Bearman's car and throwing Albon into the wall. It triggered the second red flag of the day.

The session resumed with 23 minutes left on the clock. Most drivers put on soft tyres to complete the qualifying simulations. Russell raised some eyebrows with a blistering lap that beat second-placed Carlos Sainz by half a second. The Spanish driver later improved. Verstappen had a quick sector three but was only good enough to be fourth fastest. Piastri recorded the 6th fastest time but described the car as "terrible". Perez got within two-tenths of his teammate Verstappe but was one full second behind Russell. The rest of the session largely featured long runs.

However, Verstappen reported on the radio that something was wrong with the engine and that he had no power. The Dutchman continued to drive but returned to the pit lane without using full throttle.