Mexican Grand Prix: Leclerc tops FP1 as Colton Herta bags FIA Super Licence

Charles Leclerc set the pace in the opening hour of practice ahead of the F1 2026 Mexican Grand Prix.

With a total of 10 F1 rookies in action, Leclerc comfortably beat Mercedes’ champion-in-waiting Kimi Antonelli to FP1 top spot. Meanwhile, Colton Herta reached a major milestone by qualifying for his FIA Super Licence.

Charles Leclerc P1, Colton Herta breakthrough

There were rookies galore scheduled for FP1 action in Mexico City. The full list of changes was as follows:

Frederik Vesti – Mercedes (George Russell)
Ayumu Iwasa – Red Bull (Max Verstappen)
Leonardo Fornaroli – McLaren (Lando Norris)
Colton Herta – Cadillac (Valtteri Bottas)
Nikola Tsolov – Racing Bulls (Liam Lawson)
Gabriele Mini – Alpine (replacing Franco Colapinto)
Jak Crawford – Aston Martin (Lance Stroll)
Freddie Slater – Audi (Gabriel Bortoleto)
Ryo Hirakawa – Haas (Esteban Ocon)
Luke Browning – Williams (Alex Albon)

It meant that only Ferrari was running both full-time drivers in FP1.

Lewis Hamilton was quickly out on track as the light went green, experimenting with the aero rakes attached to his SF-26.

Antonelli, on what will surely become his championship-sealing weekend, saw his early P1 time struck off for track limits. Hard and medium tyres were the preference for these opening tours of the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in F1 2026.

Hadjar was having trouble in the Red Bull as he reported “no power”, his RB22 trundling far below the normal pace. He made it back to the pit lane for investigations.

A major talking point coming into the race weekend was how these PUs would respond to the high-altitude demands of this circuit, which sits more than 2200 meters above sea level.

Fornaroli had a “big moment” at Turn 11. Well held by the back-to-back Formula 3 and Formula 2 champion. Turn 1 was catching out Oscar Piastri in the other McLaren, as he partook in a spot of grass cutting on his way back to the asphalt.

At the halfway stage in FP1, Charles Leclerc now led the way on a 1:19.197, three-tenths ahead of Antonelli, both having lapped best on the hards. The aero rakes were now off Hamilton’s car.

At last out on track for his FP1 debut, Audi was quickly forced to call F3 championship runner-up Freddie Slater back in to the pits. A cooling fan had been left in the sidepod. That alerted the stewards who launched an investigation for an unsafe release.

Sent back out, the Brit was recalled to the pit lane with a new issue detected.

“Turn the engine off. We will not continue.” Disappointment for the 18-year-old on his F1 race weekend debut. But, there was a twist to come…

Back out on track, T1 continued to prove tricky, Crawford, Carlos Sainz and Fornaroli the latest to be caught out.

Now, Ferrari had brought the soft tyres out to play. Leclerc kicked things off with a 1:18.128. Antonelli fell six-and-a-half-tenths short with his first attempt on the compound.

A major slide at Turn 13 meant Hamilton could not improve on third with his latest soft lap.

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Further down the order, Herta continued accumulating the laps, as he chased that final point to unlock his FIA Super Licence.

An experienced FP1 rookie by this stage, Vesti was turning heads once again as he shot up to third, less than a tenth off Antonelli’s pace.

Crawford was not experiencing such joys. The Virtual Safety Car was out with his Aston Martin stationary down at the T1/2 run-off. His session was over.

As the track returned to green, Slater made an unexpected return to the track. Third time lucky was the hope. He got himself on the leaderboard with the mediums.

Tsolov, it appeared, was trying to shake off a dead leg as he stood up in the Racing Bulls cockpit. He was able to overcome and got strapped back in.

Sainz was getting hot and bothered behind Vesti, feeling the Mercedes was impeding him.

Herta hit 24 laps. FIA Super Licence achieved. He finished the session on 30.

Leclerc topped FP1 comfortably from Antonelli and Vesti.

F1 results: Mexican Grand Prix 2026 – FP1 (Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez)