Charles Leclerc completed a Friday practice double at the Mexico City Grand Prix but Ferrari's strong showing was dampened by Lewis Hamilton suffering a technical issue. Leclerc produced a time of 1:17.827s to finish just over a tenth clear of McLaren's Lando Norris and Mercedes' George Russell, with the British pair among 10 drivers who had earlier sat out the opening session to make way for rookie drivers. Kimi Antonelli, who only needs to finish ninth in Sunday's race to become Formula 1's youngest-ever world champion, was a tenth down on his team-mate Russell in fourth.
Hamilton had been on course to go fastest as the session approached its midway point before suffering what appeared to be an engine issue in the final sector of his push lap. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player He completed the lap but was then swiftly told by his engineer to pull over on track, ending his session early and denying him valuable information that his rivals were able to gather with their race simulations. Max Verstappen, another to have sat out first practice, was three tenths off the pace in fifth, with his team-mate Isack Hadjar slotting in behind him.
Verstappen was involved in a bizarre collision with his former team-mate Liam Lawson in the early stages of the session as the four-time world champion attempted to overtake the Racing Bulls driver. Lawson defended and retained track position, only for the battle to continue on for several more corners before the pair made contact, leaving debris on the track that caused a red flag to be thrown so it could be cleared. The pair will not only have to explain themselves to their teams, who are both part of the Red Bull family, but also the stewards as they were called to see them following the session.
Saturday October 315.15pm: Mexico City Grand Prix Practice Three (session starts at 6.30pm)8pm: Mexico City Grand Prix Qualifying build-up9pm: MEXICO CITY GRAND PRIX QUALIFYING11pm: Ted's Qualifying Notebook Sunday November 15pm: F1 Academy Race 36.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Mexico City GP build-up8pm: THE MEXICO CITY GRAND PRIX*10pm: Chequered Flag: Mexico City GP reaction11pm: Ted's Notebook Formula 1 next heads south for the second leg of The Americas triple-header with the Mexico City Grand Prix this weekend, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW - no contract, cancel anytime
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