Formula 1 today: rookie outings in Mexico
Ahead of the Mexico City GP, several teams hand their cars to young drivers in first free practice, and Audi adapts to the altitude.
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Plenty of new faces in first practice
At the Mexico City GP, plenty of young drivers will be behind the wheel in Friday's first free practice session. According to Grande Premio, Mercedes reserve driver Frederik Vesti takes over George Russell's car. Russell is set to return for the second practice session, and qualifying and the race are unaffected.
At Alpine, Franco Colapinto makes way for Gabriele Mini. According to RacingNews365, it will be Mini's first free practice outing in Formula 1. Audi has confirmed that Freddie Slater from its own junior programme will drive in place of Gabriel Bortoleto.
According to SPEEDWEEK.com, the following changes have also been confirmed:
- Jak Crawford for Lance Stroll at Aston Martin
- Luke Browning for Alexander Albon at Williams
- Leonardo Fornaroli for Lando Norris at McLaren
- Ryo Hirakawa for Esteban Ocon at Haas
The reason lies in the FIA's rules: every team has to run rookies in several practice sessions over the course of the season. First practice gets under way on Friday at 19:30 German time.
Audi adapts to the altitude
In its preview, Audi points to what makes the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez special. The track sits more than 2,200 metres high. In the thin air the cars face less drag, but cooling and power delivery become all the more important. The run from the starting grid to the first corner is also longer than at any other track on the calendar.
Audi left Austin without points: Nico Hülkenberg finished eleventh, Bortoleto thirteenth. Racing director Allan McNish nonetheless remains confident: “We have shown that we can fight for points, and that's what we'll be aiming to do again this weekend.”
The picture ahead of Round 19
Andrea Kimi Antonelli won the United States GP from pole position, so he heads to Mexico on 365 points. He leads Russell (242) by 123 points and Lewis Hamilton (241) by 124. After Mexico City, the races in Brazil, Las Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi are still to come.
Russell finished eighth in Austin. He had been given a five-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. You can find all the results under 2026 results and the full standings under 2026 standings.
Sources
- Mexican Grand Prix: high speeds at high altitude – audif1.com
- Franco Colapinto to step aside at Alpine for F1 debutant in Mexico FP1 – racingnews365.com
- A brief break for Colapinto in Mexico! Russell and Stroll are also sitting out FP1 – speedweek.com
- Mercedes confirms Frederik Vesti will replace George Russell in Mexican GP FP1 – grandepremio.com
