The first practice session in Mexico had an unusual look, as nine of the ten Formula 1 teams gave their cars to rookie drivers. Only Sauber kept its regular pairing, while the rest chose to run young drivers to give them valuable experience and to meet Formula 1’s rule that each team must run a rookie in at least four practice sessions during the season.

From the start, all 20 cars went out on track to begin their programmes. Most teams used the harder tyres to allow the rookies to learn the circuit safely, while others tried the medium compound to gather more data. With so many newcomers behind the wheel, the order on the timesheet was very different from usual.

Early in the session, Isack Hadjar went fastest for Red Bull with a time of 1:20.128, ahead of Yuki Tsunoda, Esteban Ocon and Nico Hulkenberg. Paul Aron, standing in for Pierre Gasly at Alpine, had a small spin in the middle sector but continued without problems. The young Estonian, who is seen as a future contender for a race seat, showed confidence as he pushed the Alpine to its limits.

At the halfway point, Oscar Piastri moved to the top for McLaren with a lap of 1:19.035, followed closely by Alex Albon in the Williams. As more laps were completed, the grip on the circuit improved and times began to fall. Charles Leclerc then took over at the top before Mercedes junior Kimi Antonelli briefly went quicker. Leclerc responded with an even better lap to finish the session as the fastest driver.

There were a few small moments near the end. Hadjar ran off track near the stadium section and had to reverse back onto the circuit, while Piastri slid through the esses but recovered without damage. Leclerc later focused on longer race-style runs as the clock ran down.

When the session ended, Charles Leclerc was fastest for Ferrari. Kimi Antonelli finished second for Mercedes, with Nico Hulkenberg third for Sauber. Oscar Piastri was fourth for McLaren, ahead of Gabriel Bortoleto in fifth for Sauber. Arvid Lindblad impressed in sixth for Red Bull, followed by Esteban Ocon in seventh for Haas. Yuki Tsunoda took eighth for Red Bull, Franco Colapinto was ninth for Alpine, and Alex Albon completed the top ten for Williams.