F1 Mexico GP Live Commentary and Updates - FP1 & FP2
Friday's action from the 19th round of the 2023 Formula 1 season.
Max Verstappen and Red Bull may have both championship crowns in the bag already, but there remains plenty to play for in Mexico.
After seeing his points advantage over Lewis Hamilton grow to 39 points through the Mercedes driver's disqualification in the United States, Sergio Perez will be keen to put on a show for his home fans and solidify his second position in the standings.
Ollie Bearman will make his F1 debut with Haas in the weekend's opening session, standing in for Kevin Magnussen, with Jack Doohan, Frederik Vesti, Theo Pourchaire and Isack Hadjar featuring for Alpine, Mercedes, Alfa Romeo and AlphaTauri respectively.
FP1 will get under way at 19:30pm BST with FP2 at 23:00pm BST.
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Albon is on an absolute flier here and improves from P4 to P2! He is 0.095s back on pace-setter Verstappen! The Williams looks to have genuine pace this weekend.
It has been reported that Pourchaire has a brake-by-wire problem and the gearbox is coming off the Alfa Romeo. A horrible session for the F2 points leader.
With less than 10 minutes remaining, Albon is certainly the standout performer of this session. Yes, it's only FP1, but all being equal, the Williams driver looks set for a strong weekend.
The battle between McLaren and Ferrari looks as close as ever but Mercedes, so far, look a little off the pace with Hamilton currently in P11, behind Stroll.
A wild moment for Bearman through the back chicanes, smashing the kerbs and sliding his Haas all over the place. It ruins his lap but the Briton is pushing hard on his debut.
Bearman was the fastest of the F2 drivers, besting Alonso on his final tour to go P15. Hadjar (P17), Doohan (P18) and Vesti (P19) round out those that have set times. Pourchaire is the only driver with a blank timesheet.
After the pace of Mercedes in the US, it is somewhat of a surprise to see Hamilton languishing in P11 and a second off the pace. It is possible that Mercedes were focusing on long-run pace over qualifying speed, but only the team will know the exact details.
As the session ends, the FIA has revealed that Tsunoda will start the Mexico City GP from the back of the grid after fitting a fifth power unit of the year.
Toto Wolff explains that Mercedes were going through plenty of test items during FP1 and that Hamilton made an error on his fast lap. Had that not been the case, he expects Hamilton would have featured in the top three.
And with that, it's time for us to disappear for a couple of hours before FP2 begins at 23:00. As ever, thank you for joining us and if you need to catch up, here is the full session report!
After that interlude, we're back to bring you all the build up to FP2 in a little over 20 minutes when normal service will resume with the full complement of regular drivers back aboard their cars.
After stepping aside for FP1, George Russell, Pierre Gasly, Yuki Tsunoda, Kevin Magnussen and Valtteri Bottas will have some catching up to do at the Mexico City track.
For Tsunoda, his first track running of the weekend will take on a greater significance with the knowledge he'll be starting from the back after taking a fifth gearbox and a new suite of power unit components. Race set-up is always of paramount importance, but he at least won't have to worry about getting a car dialled in for quali trim.
For this writer it was rather surreal seeing Isack Hadjar take part in FP1. I was at Paul Ricard for the Volant Winfield driver assessment in February 2019 when a 14-year-old Hadjar - notably smaller than most of the drivers in attendance - was selected as the best under-15-year-old and earned as his prize a free entry to the final French F4 round of that year.
Today will be a day that Hadjar and Ollie Bearman never forget, while the same can be said for Fred Vesti who also made his F1 weekend bow at Mercedes.
But for everybody else the show continues and as the track rubbers in we'll get a better idea about who is capable of setting consistent times over longer stint lengths. However, the race on Sunday will start three hours earlier than today's FP2 session, so the track conditions won't be exactly comparable.
A little under five minutes away from the session starting. We're into the eighth edition of F1 racing at Mexico in the track's current configuration, 60 years after its first world championship grand prix won by Jim Clark in 1963 from Jack Brabham and Richie Ginther.
The vast majority have elected to use the test compound for the early stages in the session. As a reminder, it's a prototype C4 compound that Pirelli is evaluating with the hope of offering a wider working range and improved mechanical assistance to reduce graining. You can identify it by the tyre having no coloured sidewall.
Ricciardo, Piastri and Gasly are running the hards, while Hamilton and Bottas are running the mediums. Everybody else, as mentioned, is on the test tyres.
We've known all season that the Williams is rapid in a straight line, and that could prove a potent weapon here with the long main straight. Albon has just gone purple in sector one on his way to setting the third fastest time, as Verstappen goes fastest on a 1m20.085s.
Sargeant, Alonso and Magnussen are the latest converts to the medium tyre as the front runners continue to pound around on the test C4s. Albon uses them to go fastest on a 1m20.075s.
After brake-by-wire problems stranded Theo Pourchaire in the garage and prevented the F2 points leader from setting a time in FP1, Bottas has at least managed eight timed laps so far though currently languishes in 17th.
Russell and Verstappen now switch onto the mediums, while Norris has come in after having a big old wobble in the middle sector when he got a tad greedy on the kerbs.
As Albon continues to lead the way, it's worth remembering that Williams has enjoyed some good times in Mexico. Bottas took a podium for the Grove team on Mexico's F1 return in 2015, while Nigel Mansell took wins in 1987 and 1992. Riccardo Patrese also ascended to the top step in 1991.
