The weekend began with an altered lineup as ten regular starters vacated their cockpits to fulfill reserve driver obligations across the grid. Charles Leclerc guided his Ferrari to the top of the timesheets, leading a competitive group that saw stand-ins Fred Vesti and Ayumu Iwasa claim top-five placements. Kimi Antonelli secured the second position despite missing media activities the previous day due to illness, needing merely two points in Sunday's Grand Prix to secure the drivers' crown. The hour-long session was interrupted by a virtual safety car period caused by Jak Crawford stopping his Aston Martin with suspected mechanical failure.
Key points
Kimi Antonelli needs to score only two points on Sunday to become the youngest world cham…: Kimi Antonelli needs to score only two points on Sunday to become the youngest world champion in Formula One history.
Ten regular race drivers relinquished their seats so teams could run young and reserve dr…: Ten regular race drivers relinquished their seats so teams could run young and reserve drivers in opening practice.
Several rookie drivers endured technical setbacks, including Freddie Slater driving an Au…: Several rookie drivers endured technical setbacks, including Freddie Slater driving an Audi equipped with an unremoved cooling fan.
Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1
MEXICO CITY, Oct 30 : Kimi Antonelli reported fit after a bout of sickness and lapped second fastest behind Ferrari's Charles Leclerc in Friday's first practice for a Mexico City Grand Prix set to crown the 20-year-old Mercedes driver as Formula One's youngest champion.
The Italian missed Thursday's media day to recover from a viral illness but started as normal in an opening session without 10 race regulars as all but Ferrari gave track time to young drivers at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
Leclerc set the pace with a lap of one minute 18.128 seconds while Antonelli, 123 points clear of teammate and closest rival George Russell in the standings and needing only two points on Sunday to put the title out of reach, was 0.659 slower.
Russell was one of those sitting out the session with Mercedes reserve Fred Vesti taking his place and lapping third fastest, 0.733 slower than Leclerc, with Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton fourth.
Japanese Ayumu Iwasa, taking the place of four-time champion Max Verstappen at Red Bull, was the fastest of the non-race drivers with fifth…
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