Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz topped Friday Practice for 2024 Mexico City Grand Prix at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
Sainz finished second to Mercedes’ George Russell in a busy FP1 session but after the Brit crashed early in FP2 which was a Pirelli tyre test session, Sainz proceeded the fastest overall lap with 1m 17.699.
There were however three red flags across both sessions as drivers got to grips with the circuit.
Now, here is a roundup of all the action across FP1 and FP2 for 2024 Mexico City GP.
FP1
Stand-in drivers for FP1, Felipe Drugovich and Oliver Bearman were first on track for Aston Martin and Ferrari respectively, with Bearman setting 1m 39.383 as the initial benchmark.
The 19 year-old’s time was quickly usurped before the red flags came out in the fifth minute, after Mercedes’ stand-in, Andrea Kimi Antonelli ran over debris on the main straight.
Max Verstappen though managed to post 1m 20.970 before the stoppage which ended in the 11th minute, with Haas’ Kevin Magnussen first to go quicker by 0.058 seconds but Sainz then Russell went quickest.
Williams’ Alex Albon though sprung a surprise in the 18th minute as he posted 1m 19.812 to go top from Russell by 0.004s.
Sainz responded five minutes later with 1m 19.407 to go quickest from Russell by 0.112s, moments before the session was again red flagged as Albon collided with Bearman at Turn 10 but both drivers escaped unscathed.
The session resumed with 23 minutes left on the clock as Magnussen ventured straight back out, with attention of teams having switched to qualifying simulations on the soft tyre.
Sainz however lowered his benchmark to 1m 18.573 on his soft-tyre flier but Russell found 0.575s on his lap, which saw him post 1m 17.998 to set the pace from the Spaniard.
Sainz ultimately fell 0.317s shy of Russell following an improved second attempt whilst RB’s Yuki Tsunoda finished third, albeit 0.701s off Russell’s benchmark time.
Out of the five FP1 stand-in runners, Antonelli finished highest in 12th position and two positions higher than McLaren’s Pato O’Ward who was 13th and 0.095s off the Italian.
Drugovich finished 18th after he didn’t get a smooth soft-tyre flier but 0.169s ahead of Sauber’s Robert Shwartzman, whilst only Albon and Bearman didn’t post a soft-tyre lap as they finished 17th and 20th respectively.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1m 17.998 |
| 2 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | + 0.317 |
| 3 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB | + 0.701 |
| 4 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | + 0.841 |
| 5 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | + 0.906 |
| 6 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | + 0.960 |
| 7 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | + 0.998 |
| 8 | Valtteri Bottas | Sauber | + 1.050 |
| 9 | Liam Lawson | RB | + 1.095 |
| 10 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | + 1.096 |
| 11 | Franco Colapinto | Williams | + 1.111 |
| 12 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | + 1.202 |
| 13 | Pato O’Ward | McLaren | + 1.297 |
| 14 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | + 1.337 |
| 15 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | + 1.342 |
| 16 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 1.602 |
| 17 | Alex Albon | Williams | + 1.814 |
| 18 | Felipe Drugovich | Aston Martin | + 1.821 |
| 19 | Robert Shwartzman | Sauber | + 1.990 |
| 20 | Oliver Bearman | Ferrari | + 3.258 |
FP2
Having sat out FP1, Lando Norris, Fernando Alonso and Guanyu Zhou were straight out for McLaren, Aston Martin and Sauber respectively, and Norris soon set 1m 18.895 as the benchmark time as teams ran a test tyre in the extended 90-minute session.
Norris’ teammate, Piastri soon lowered the benchmark to 1m 18.010 but Sainz in the seventh minute posted 1m 18.276 as the new fastest lap.
Red flags were out just 13 minutes into the session after Russell got onto the entry kerb at turn 9 and spun sideways into the barriers.
The session resumed 24 minutes later with several drivers conducting a low-fuel run in which Sainz posted 1m 17.699 to set the fastest lap of the day, as nobody got close in the last 50 minutes.
Majority of drivers set their fastest lap times on the test tyres but Norris and Alonso finished fifth and 11th on the medium tyre, whilst power unit issues prevented Verstappen from setting a lap time.
Albon didn’t even get on track due to serious repair work needed on his Williams car.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 1m 17.699 |
| 2 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | + 0.178 |
| 3 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB | + 0.179 |
| 4 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 0.188 |
| 5 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 0.249 |
| 6 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | + 0.540 |
| 7 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | + 0.580 |
| 8 | Valtteri Bottas | Sauber | + 0.652 |
| 9 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | + 0.693 |
| 10 | Liam Lawson | RB | + 0.861 |
| 11 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | + 0.880 |
| 12 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | + 0.922 |
| 13 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | + 0.957 |
| 14 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 1.191 |
| 15 | Franco Colapinto | Williams | + 1.209 |
| 16 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | + 1.243 |
| 17 | Guanyu Zhou | Sauber | + 1.281 |
| 18 | George Russell | Mercedes | + 1.342 |
| 19 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | No Time |
| 20 | Alex Albon | Williams | No Time |