Oct.28 (GMM) Mexico’s unusually slippery Friday track conditions are once again making the Grand Prix a favourite place for Formula 1 teams to complete mandatory rookie practice running.
At least eight teams are planning young-driver appearances in FP1, with Red Bull also expected to put Ayumu Iwasa in Max Verstappen’s car.
McLaren will run Leonardo Fornaroli, Mercedes Frederik Vesti, Aston Martin Jak Crawford, Alpine Gabriele Mini, Audi Freddie Slater, Williams Luke Browning, and Cadillac Colton Herta – who should then quality for his super license.
The attraction of Mexico is simple – teams lose relatively little by sidelining a regular driver.
Mercedes engineering director Andrew Shovlin explained last year: “The track is always low grip to start Friday practice here, which explains why nine of the 10 teams opted to run a young driver in the first session.”
Mercedes deputy team principal Bradley Lord made the same point.
“The circuit is very, very dusty in Mexico traditionally, so it’s not a super useful FP1 for learning for the rest of the weekend,” he said.
That makes Mexico particularly useful late in the season, when teams still need to complete their mandatory rookie outings but have fewer major upgrades left to evaluate.