Formula 1 | Ferrari, a complicated Friday in Mexico City

Friday's free practice for the Mexico City Grand Prix proved to be as complex as expected, especially due to the track conditions, which were constantly evolving from the beginning to the end of the day. This gave the teams few points of reference, complicating the set-up work to refine which will be important to take advantage of the third free practice session scheduled for tomorrow at 11am (18pm CET). The picture behind the two teams fighting for the title is very balanced and the qualification promises to be particularly close.

Intense program. The Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow drivers were busy on several fronts since, in addition to finding the best set-up, both Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc were involved in tests related to reliability - one of the key factors in Mexico due to the rarefied air which makes it more difficult to cool the various components - and in the evaluation of the three tire compounds available. In addition to the on-track programme, several pit stop tests were carried out to optimize this fundamental operation.

FP1. It was precisely the critical track conditions at the start of the first session that minimized the impact of the lost track time on Charles' program for the day. During the sixth lap, while on Hard tyres, the Monegasque driver lost control of his SF21 at the entrance to the last corner. The impact with the barriers occurred at low speed and only the rear wing had to be replaced. While the mechanics worked on Leclerc's car, the activity on the track was rather limited to the point that at the end of the session Sainz had completed just six laps more than his teammate: 26 against 20. Both drivers achieved the best time on Soft tires : 1'19"463 for Carlos and 1'19"667 for Charles who, in his best attempt, however had to deal with another fundamental factor, the traffic, which forced him to abort the session in which he was obtaining his best time.

FP2. In the second session, as expected, we witnessed a further evolution of the track which, by cleaning and rubberising, allowed the times to be significantly lowered even if the asphalt remained very slippery. All drivers continued to struggle to find a clean lap, especially due to traffic. Carlos and Charles started the session on Medium tyres, switched to Soft tires in the central phase, for the qualifying simulation, and finished again with the set at the start of the session for a few laps in race configuration. Carlos achieved a best time of 1'18”318, while Charles stopped the clock at 1'18”605, once again affected by some traffic in his best attempt. Overall the two completed 56 rounds, 28 each.

Program. As mentioned, the third free practice session is scheduled for tomorrow at 11am local time (18pm CET) while qualifying will begin at 14pm (21pm CET).