Friday double in Mexico: Leclerc tops both sessions as Hamilton loses power
Charles Leclerc was fastest in both practice sessions for the Mexico City Grand Prix. Championship leader Antonelli is back after his illness, while Hamilton had to park his car in FP2.
Photo: Liauzh / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 (cropped and resized)
Video: YouTube · FORMULA 1 · youtube.com
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc controlled practice day in Mexico City. In first practice he lapped in 1:18.128, according to Motorsport-Total, 0.659 seconds clear of Kimi Antonelli. In second practice he improved to 1:17.827, according to Formula1.com, 0.103 seconds ahead of McLaren's Lando Norris and 0.106 ahead of George Russell. Antonelli was fourth and Max Verstappen fifth.
Lewis Hamilton's FP2 ended early. "Something is wrong with the power, I lost all power through Turn 13," the Briton reported on the radio, according to Motorsport Week, and his team told him to stop the car, triggering a Virtual Safety Car. Earlier, a collision between Verstappen and Liam Lawson caused a brief red flag. Ten young drivers ran in FP1, with only Ferrari sticking to its regular line-up.
Antonelli, who skipped Thursday's media day with a viral infection, was back in the car. The Mercedes driver leads the championship on 365 points from Russell (242) and Hamilton (241) and can clinch the title on Sunday. Qualifying starts on Saturday at 22:00 CET, the race on Sunday at 21:00 CET.