Summary

  • Second practice under way - audio commentary at top of page

  • Russell crashes; Briton was fastest in first session

  • Verstappen out with power unit "issue"

  • Second practice runs 30 minutes longer for tyre test

  • Bearman and Albon collide and crash heavily in FP1

  • Get involved #bbcf1

Live Reporting

Lorraine McKenna

  1. Verstappen heads back to the pits

    Max Verstappen has come back to the pits and is now being pushed into the garage. Red Bull team principal Christian Horner is looking over trying to see if the three-time world champion's car is in trouble.

  2. The soft compound has been dumped over at Mercedes for George Russell in favour of running the hards for some race data. His future team-mate, teenager Kimi Antonelli, is starting his first attempt on the C5 rubber.

    Meanwhile, Max Verstappen is on the radio to the pit wall to flag that the car is not feeling great. "There's something wrong with the engine, mate," the Dutchman tells his engineer.

  3. Fans chanting for Checo

    "Checo! Checo!" chant the Mexican fans in the grandstands. Sergio Perez had a miserable time at his home race last year, crashing out at the first corner after making contact with Charles Leclerc's Ferrari. The Red Bull man said yesterday his 2024 season had been "terrible", so can he bounce back from his disappointments at least get closer to his team-mate Max Verstappen?

    At the moment, Verstappen is on a 1:18.839, while Perez's best time on the softs is 1:19.094.

  4. McLaren submit review into Norris' penalty

    Lando Norris and Max VerstappenGetty Images

    Should Lando Norris have been given a five-second penalty for for overtaking off track in Austin? The team don't think so.

    The battle between himself and Max Verstappen last weekend has caused an avalanche of debate on what constitutes fair racing and how much can you bend the rules to your advantage.

    McLaren have submitted a request for a right of review into Norris' penalty, with a hearing to take place in Mexico on Friday.

    They will need to demonstrate there is a "significant and relevant new element" for it to progress.

    Plenty of drivers had their say on the incident at COTA, which you can read in full here.

  5. Nico Hulkenberg is the final stretch of his time with Haas before he makes the transfer over to Sauber for the 2025 season. The German scored points last weekend in both the sprint and the main race and now sits 10th in the championship, five points clear of Lance Stroll.

    Can Hulkenberg collect more prizes this weekend in Mexico? Well, his first laps on the softs has lifted him to fourth on the timesheets with a marker not too far away from the one set by the Red Bull of Max Verstappen.

  6. Russell goes quickest on softs

    Kevin Magnussen and Pierre Gasly move up to fourth and fifth respectively on their opening soft runs, which quickly turns to seventh and eighth now that the likes of Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz have crossed the line.

    The leader of the pack, however, is George Russell, who hits a 1:17.998 on his first C5 attempt, over half a second fastest than the Ferrari of Sainz.

  7. So, before that drama, Carlos Sainz went quickest in his Ferrari by 0.112 seconds from the Mercedes of George Russell. Alex Albon is currently third on the timesheets, but with teams now fitting the soft tyres, the Williams will now drop down the order. The two Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez are fourth and fifth.

  8. Track green

    And away we go again.

  9. red flag

    Shwartzman noted for overtaking

    Robert Shwartzman has been noted by the stewards for overtaking under yellow flags. The Sauber driver was on the radio following the crash to say: "Oh my god, I think Bearman did something to someone".

    The incident between Ferrari's Bearman and Alex Albon will be investigated after the session for causing a collision.

  10. red flag

    Now, Alex Albon certainly made his feelings known on the team radio after hitting the barriers, calling young rookie Ollie Berman an "idiot". But I'm not sure there was much the 19-year-old Briton could do in that situation, as Albon was already fighting with the car before his right rear tyre reached the left front of the Ferrari.

  11. red flag

    Albon and Bearman out of FP1

    Alex Albon has reached the medical car, but Ollie Bearman is waiting for his lift back to the pits.

    The Williams suffered a snap of oversteer just as Bearman moved over in the Ferrari to let him through. As Albon wrestled with the car, the pair made contact.

  12. red flag

    Red flag

    This is a big shunt for Alex Albon in the Williams at Turn 10. The Ferrari of Oliver Bearman also looks like it's been hit and is stopped on track. Both drivers are OK, which is good news.

  13. yellow flag

    Yellow flag

    A Williams is into the barriers.

  14. What are Alpine cooking? Pierre Gasly is on the phone to the pit wall to say he can smell something peculiar in the car. The team respond by saying they can't see anything untoward from their side, so what could it be?

  15. Oscar Piastri bumps over the inside kerb which causes his McLaren to slide across the dusty track. The Australian is able to save the snap, however, and is able to carry on to complete his third lap on the hards.

    Late change for our commentary team. Tom Gaymor is alongside Harry Benjamin and Andrew Benson today, and for first practice, F2 championship leader Gabriel Bortoleto is also in the commentary box.

  16. Over at Mercedes, both George Russell and Kimi Antonelli have left the garage on a set of hard tyres, so Antonelli's small brush with the debris doesn't seem to have caused to much trouble.

    Russell is top of the timesheets at the moment with a time of 1:20.727.

  17. Pit lane green

    The red flag is cleared and drivers can go out once again. Max Verstappen apparently said on the team radio to Red Bull that he had also hit some debris. The Dutchman's car is now up on the stand in the garage with the mechanics tinkering away underneath.

  18. What tyres are being used for Mexico?

    Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson wear day of the dead masksGetty Images

    Pirelli have chosen the softest tyres in the range for this weekend's Mexico City Grand Prix, with teams able to select from the C3 (white, hard), C4 (medium, yellow) and C5 (soft, red) compounds.

    Second practice is dedicated to validating the softer tyres in the Italian supplier's 2025 range (C4, C5 and C6). All teams will have to follow a specific programme, including performance runs and longs runs, using the two additional sets of unmarked tyres.

    For those drivers who have missed first practice to make way for the rookies, they will be given the final 30 minutes of FP2 to gather data on an additional set of medium tyres.

  19. red flag

    Cars head back to base

    This shouldn't be a long stoppage. The marshal was like Usain Bolt across the track to pick up the offending item.

  20. red flag

    Debris on track

    There is a little fan in the crowd who is wearing ear defenders in the shape of some tyres. Fantastic design.

    A red flag already?! Seems a stray bit of debris has halted this session. Kimi Antonelli went over it in the Mercedes, and now the Italian is heading back to the garage with the rest of the cars who have headed out early.

    Here come the marshals. Run, run, run.