Charles Leclerc Dominates Again As Ferrari Set Pace In Mexico

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc dominated practice for the Mexico City Grand Prix on Friday, topping the timesheets in both sessions for the second consecutive race weekend. The Monegasque driver produced a best lap of 1:17.827 in the second practice session to finish 0.103 seconds ahead of McLaren world champion Lando Norris. George Russell was third for Mercedes, followed by teammate and championship leader Kimi Antonelli. Antonelli, 20, who missed Thursday's media activities while recovering from a virus, can become Formula One's youngest world champion on Sunday and the first Italian driver to win the title since 1963 if he finishes in the top nine.

He could also secure the championship if his two remaining title rivals, Russell and Ferrari's seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, fail to win the race.

Leclerc's impressive showing mirrored his performance at last week's United States Grand Prix in Austin, where he also led the practice sessions.

Max Verstappen, a five-time winner of the Mexico City Grand Prix, finished fifth for Red Bull despite suffering damage in an early clash with Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson.

Red Bull teammate Isack Hadjar was sixth, while Lawson's teammate Arvid Lindblad finished seventh ahead of Pierre Gasly, Lawson and Oscar Piastri in the second McLaren.

Hamilton ended the session down in 11th after a power failure curtailed his running midway through.

The session began with Gasly leading Alpine teammate Franco Colapinto out onto the track, while local favourite Sergio Perez, preparing for his 300th Formula One start, was quickly cautioned for a pit-lane infringement.

Following the appearance of 10 rookie drivers in the opening practice session, all full-time drivers returned for FP2, experimenting with a variety of tyre compounds on the low-grip circuit.

A red flag halted the session after 15 minutes when debris had to be cleared from the Foro Sol section following contact between Verstappen and Lawson, which damaged the Dutchman's car.

The incident forced Red Bull to carry out repairs and was subsequently noted by the stewards for further investigation.

Ferrari controlled much of the early running, with Leclerc setting the pace before Norris briefly moved to the top on soft tyres.

Shortly afterwards, Hamilton suffered a loss of power and pulled over on the straight after completing just one flying lap on the soft compound.

The setback deprived Hamilton of valuable track time, while Leclerc regained top spot ahead of Norris, Russell and Antonelli before teams switched to heavier fuel loads and longer-run simulations.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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