Outgoing world champion Lando Norris put McLaren on top in the first practice session for the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen and Andrea Kimi Antonelli took turns at the top of the times after setting quick laps on soft tyres. But last year’s Brazilian Grand Prix winner displaced them both with a quickest lap of 1’11.717.Norris and his successor as world champion were separated by less than a tenth of a second at the top of the times. Verstappen, who began his soft tyre run early in the session, was two tenths of a second behind in third place.
Lewis Hamilton ensured four different constructors filled the top four places. The Ferrari driver was one of several to lock up heavily at the first corner and run wide during the session.
Six junior drivers took the opportunity to participate in the session. Gabriele Mini was the quickest of them, putting his Alpine in an impressive seventh place behind George Russell and Isack Hadjar. His team complimented him on a “decent” effort which left him just under a tenth of a second faster than regular driver Franco Colapinto.
Gabriel Bortoleto set the eighth-fastest time for Audi in front of his home crowd. But their junior driver Freddie Slater suffered another disrupted session, coming to a stop on his seventh lap after barely 10 minutes of running, triggering a red flag.
Liam Lawson put his Racing Bulls inside the top 10, narrowly ahead of Leonardo Fornaroli, at the wheel of Oscar Piastri’s McLaren.
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Williams limited Luke Browning to just 12 laps of running as the team is keen to save mileage on its parts at this stage in the season. He was only fractionally slower than Alexander Albon, who covered 18 laps before his car came to a stop at Juncao. His car was recovered without the session being stopped a second time.
Rafael Camara made a steady start to his first grand prix weekend for Haas, setting the 18th-quickest time. Team mate Oliver Bearman was eight tenths of a second quicker, and fortunate to avoid being rammed by Dino Beganovic at Juncao. The Ferrari test driver appeared to be preoccupied with a settings change on his steering wheel when he came close to hitting the Haas.
Colton Herta logged 31 laps for Cadillac, which should ensure he now has enough superlicence points to race in F1. The team originally thought he achieved this in Mexico, only to discover he had one point less than previously believed. However he attracted the attention of the stewards by failing to pit immediately when the red flags were shown and is under investigation.
2026 Mexican Grand Prix first practice result
| P. | # | Driver | Team | Model | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Mercedes | MCL40 | 1’11.717 | |
| 2 | 12 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | W17 | 1’11.799 | 0.082 |
| 3 | 3 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull-Red Bull-Ford | RB22 | 1’11.953 | 0.236 |
| 4 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | SF-26 | 1’12.041 | 0.324 |
| 5 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | W17 | 1’12.103 | 0.386 |
| 6 | 6 | Isack Hadjar | Red Bull-Red Bull-Ford | RB22 | 1’12.156 | 0.439 |
| 7 | 62 | Gabriele Mini | Alpine-Mercedes | A526 | 1’12.569 | 0.852 |
| 8 | 5 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Audi | R26 | 1’12.614 | 0.897 |
| 9 | 43 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine-Mercedes | A526 | 1’12.654 | 0.937 |
| 10 | 30 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls-Red Bull-Ford | 03 | 1’12.715 | 0.998 |
| 11 | 67 | Leonardo Fornaroli | McLaren-Mercedes | MCL40 | 1’12.833 | 1.116 |
| 12 | 87 | Oliver Bearman | Haas-Ferrari | VF-26 | 1’12.837 | 1.120 |
| 13 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin-Honda | AMR26 | 1’13.017 | 1.300 |
| 14 | 41 | Arvid Lindblad | Racing Bulls-Red Bull-Ford | 03 | 1’13.038 | 1.321 |
| 15 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Cadillac-Ferrari | MAC-26 | 1’13.371 | 1.654 |
| 16 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams-Mercedes | FW48 | 1’13.511 | 1.794 |
| 17 | 46 | Luke Browning | Williams-Mercedes | FW48 | 1’13.591 | 1.874 |
| 19 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin-Honda | AMR26 | 1’13.760 | 2.043 |
| 20 | 25 | Colton Herta | Cadillac-Ferrari | MAC-26 | 1’14.275 | 2.558 |
| 21 | 38 | Dino Beganovic | Ferrari | SF-26 | 1’14.357 | 2.640 |
| 22 | 98 | Freddie Slater | Audi | R26 | 1’14.966 | 3.249 |
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