Mercedes’ George Russell went quickest in opening practice for the 2024 FIA Formula 1 Mexico City Grand Prix, beating Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz by three tenths of a second. The session was red-flagged twice, however, first for debris on the track and then more significantly for a collision between Williams’ Alex Albon and Ferrari’s Oliver Bearman that ruled both out of the session. 

The first red flag came just five minutes into the session when a small piece of debris in Turn 1 required marshals to enter the track and thus running was briefly halted. 

When running resumed Russell took P1 with a time of 1:20.727, 0.068s ahead of Red Bull’s home hero Sergio Pérez. Sainz then briefly moved to the top of the order before Russell responded and then Albon moved clear with a 1m19.812.

That was Albon’s last competitive time of the session, however. The Williams driver was working his way through a hot lap on Hard tyres when came up to the much slower Bearman in the winding Esses at Turn 9. Albon seemed to back off which his FW46 and the snap smashed the rear right of his car into the side of Bearman’s Ferrari. While Bearman appeared to sustain minimal damage but stopped, Albon was sent spinning hard into the barriers. 

Damage to the Tecpro and debris on the track meant that the session was red-flagged for 14 minutes. 

Sainz resumed on the Hard tyre but after moving to Soft compound Pirelli rubber he set a new P1 time of 1:18.573 to kick off the first performance runs of the weekend. Russell powered past that time by six tenths of a second, though Sainz managed to close the gap with his next run of 1:18.315.

RB's Yuki Tsunoda was third fastest, 0.7 seconds off the pace, while Max Verstappen finished fourth with a lap of 1:18.839. However, late in the session the championship leader reported power unit problems and he trundled back to the pits for checks. 

Haas’ Nico Hülkenberg took P5 in the session ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri. Esteban Ocon was seventh for Alpine ahead of Kick Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas, while Liam Lawson took P9 for RB ahead of Pérez.

A handful of reserves and rookies were also given an outing during the session. 2025 Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli fared best, taking P12 behind Williams’ Franco Colapinto and a little under a tenth clear of Mexican Indycar racer Pato O’Ward, who took over Lando Norris’ car for the session to the delight of the home fans. Felipe Drugovich finished 18th in Fernado Alonso’s Aston Martin, ahead of Robert Shwartzman, who replaced Zhou Guanyu at Sauber and the unfortunate Bearman who was in Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari. 

2024 FIA Formula 1 Mexico City Grand Prix – Free Practice 1
1 George Russell Mercedes 1:17.998 24 198.651
2 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:18.315 0.317 25 197.847
3 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 1:18.699 0.701 24 196.881
4 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:18.839 0.841 14 196.532
5 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 1:18.904 0.906 18 196.370
6 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:18.958 0.960 24 196.235
7 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1:18.996 0.998 22 196.141
8 Valtteri Bottas Sauber/Ferrari 1:19.048 1.050 24 196.012
9 Liam Lawson RB/Honda RBPT 1:19.093 1.095 26 195.901
10 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:19.094 1.096 23 195.898
11 Franco Colapinto Williams/Mercedes 1:19.109 1.111 21 195.861
12 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:19.200 1.202 19 195.636
13 Patricio O'Ward McLaren/Mercedes 1:19.295 1.297 21 195.401
14 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1:19.335 1.337 23 195.303
15 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1:19.340 1.342 20 195.291
16 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:19.600 1.602 18 194.653
17 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:19.812 1.814 7 194.136
18 Felipe Drugovich Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:19.819 1.821 17 194.119
19 Robert Shwartzman Sauber/Ferrari 1:19.988 1.990 18 193.709
20 Oliver Bearman Ferrari 1:21.256 3.258 7 190.686