Leclerc crashes in second practice; Russell fastest; Sainz tops in first session
Red Bull receive $7m fine & 10% research reduction
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Friday night Formula 1 action is with us once again.
George Russell, Yuki Tsunoda, Esteban Ocon, Alex Albon and Kevin Magnussen are getting ready to join in.
An extended second practice session gets under way at 22:00 BST, with full commentary available on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, the BBC Sounds app and at the top of this page using the audio icon.
Nyck 'Debris' and the rest of the rookies have been cleared off the track now. Time for the regulars to jump in the cockpit for a 90-minute run around.
Image source, Getty Images
Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer
Image source, Getty ImagesCarlos Sainz led Charles Leclerc in a Ferrari one-two in first practice at the Mexican Grand Prix as 0.2 seconds separated the top six drivers.
Sainz was 0.047 seconds ahead of his team-mate at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City.
The Red Bulls of Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen were next, followed by Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes and Fernando Alonso’s Alpine.
Verstappen had a spin at the Esses but managed to stay out of the barriers.
The world champion also had an oversteer moment at Turn Five later in the session as he struggled on the low-grip track.
Perez and Verstappen, who set identical times to the thousandth of a second, were 0.12secs behind Sainz, with Hamilton 0.142secs off the pace and Alonso 0.192secs behind.
Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas, McLaren’s Lando Norris, Alpha Tauri’s Pierre Gasly and Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel completed the top 10.
A number of teams used young drivers in the session to fulfil their obligations under the rules.
The quickest wasLiam Lawson in the Alpha Tauri in 16th place, followed by Williams’ Logan Sargeant, Mercedes’ Nick De Vries, Alpine’s Jack Doohan and Haas driver Pietro Fittipaldi.
Lawson, Doohan and Fittipaldi all had their sessions curtailed by technical problems.
Both Fittialdi’s and Doohan’s issues led to the session being stopped, and Lawson’s was close enough to the end of the hour for it not to be resumed.
The second session, which starts at 22:00 UK time and runs for 90 minutes, will be devoted to testing 2023 Pirelli tyres, as was the case in Austin last weekend.
A disappointing session for the rookies, a positive start to the weekend for the Ferrari boys.
Come back and join us at 21:30 BST for second practice, which runs for 90 minutes to accommodate the Pirelli 2023 tyre test.
Have a little pit stop and see you shortly.
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11. Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren)
12. Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo)
13. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
14. Mick Schumacher (Haas)
15. Nicholas Latifi (Williams)
16. Liam Lawson (Alpha Tauri)
17. Logan Sargeant (Williams)
18. Nyck de Vries (Mercedes)
19. Jack Doohan (Alpine)
20. Pietro Fittipaldi (Haas)
1. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) - 1:20.707
2. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
3. Sergio Perez (Red Bull)
4. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
5. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
6. Fernando Alonso (Alpine)
7. Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo)
8. Lando Norris (McLaren)
9. Pierre Gasly (Alpha Tauri)
10. Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin)
Nyck de Vries thanks Mercedes for the last three years of his career and the reserve driver is then wished good luck for the future with Alpha Tauri next season. Lovely stuff.
The session will not be resumed following that red flag so the shutters come down on first practice.
Carlos Sainz tops the session with a 1:20.707 on the soft tyres. Up next is Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc, 0.046secs behind, with the Red Bull of Sergio Perez in third.
The Alpha Tauri's brakes are on fire. The marshals are on the scene with the extinguishers as cars continue to go past.
"Mate, what the **** is going on?!" asked Liam Lawson on the radio. "Stop the car in a safe place immediately," the New Zealander was told.
Bring out the red flag again.
Two Ferraris, two Red Bulls, a Mercedes and an Alpine occupy the top six spots on the time sheets.
Another rookie is stricken. It's Liam Lawson this time in the Alpha Tauri, who has come to a stop with some red-hot brakes.
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Over on the other side of the Alpine garage, the car Jack Doohan is taking control of in this first practice session is being tinkered with by the French team's mechanics.
Ah no. And now an update from Alpine: "Unfortunately, Jack’s FP1 has come to an early finish. The team has stopped as a precaution as a result of seeing anomalies in its PU data."
Fernando Alonso, running in sixth place, has those United States Grand Prix points back in his pocket but the Spanish driver is being told to "avoid short shifting" for the moment. "Yeah," says Alonso. "It's impossible."
Haas has given a reason for Fittipaldi's first practice retirement. "It was an issue with Power Unit that caused an early end to Pietro’s session," the American team tweeted.
Daniel Ricciardo is tagged back in to the action.
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Green light.
1. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) - 1:20.707
2. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +0.046s
3. Sergio Perez (Red Bull) +0.12s
4. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) +0.12s
5. Fernando Alonso (Alpine) +0.192s
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