Friday at the 2024 Mexico Grand Prix proved frustrating for most teams, yet Ferrari found some positives. Ferrari’s day began with a setback as Oliver Bearman, who was driving in place of Charles Leclerc in FP1, was hit by Alex Albon’s Williams. The collision occurred when Albon lost control and struck Bearman in the Esses complex, damaging both cars and cutting Bearman’s session short. Despite the disruptions, Ferrari showed promising performance in the limited session.

Pirelli’s 2025 tire testing took over FP2, with McLaren, Mercedes, Aston Martin, Ferrari, and Sauber gaining an additional 30 minutes of practice for running rookies in FP1. However, this plan was disrupted by George Russell’s major crash in FP2, which affected Mercedes’ momentum after he led FP1.

The constant poor weather during previous Pirelli tests in 2024 had already caused issues, leading Mario Isola to comment that luck might be against them. Max Verstappen’s day wasn’t smooth either; the Dutch driver suffered an engine issue in FP1 that continued into FP2, sidelining him for the rest of the session. Meanwhile, Lando Norris and McLaren had a relatively smooth session, though McLaren’s appeal for Norris’s Austin penalty was ultimately rejected later in the day.

In FP1, the main focus was on the rookie drivers, but Bearman stole the spotlight when he was involved in Friday’s first major collision. Another early red flag was triggered when Max Verstappen and Andrea Kimi Antonelli collected debris from a bridge across the main straight.

Albon’s crash in FP1 took him out for the entire day. George Russell topped the FP1 session with Carlos Sainz behind him. Red Bull’s bad luck continued in FP2, as Verstappen’s engine failure forced him out after just four laps. Russell also completed only four laps before he spun at Turn 8 and crashed into the Turn 9 barriers, triggering a red flag.

As FP2 resumed, Sainz improved and set a new benchmark, followed by Oscar Piastri’s McLaren. The reduced time meant that teams with rookies could only complete a few laps on the weekend’s medium tires.

Later, McLaren’s appeal became the primary topic, with the stewards ultimately rejecting it. They determined that McLaren’s argument — that an error had been made in penalizing Norris in Austin — was “unsustainable.”

When it comes to data from FP2, conclusions are limited. For top teams, Pirelli required specific fuel levels, with two performance laps on 20 kg and two stints on 100 kg, although these were shortened due to the red flag.

Ferrari edged out Mercedes on the 2024 medium compounds, with Leclerc even outpacing Lewis Hamilton by a full second.

On the C5 compounds, McLaren outpaced Red Bull. Given the disrupted FP2, extra attention will be on optimizing setups and gathering crucial long-run data in FP3. Any reliability issues or incidents on Saturday could significantly impact teams in Sunday’s race.