Ten rookies split Friday's opening session in Mexico City, but the real intrigue centered on three first-timers and one familiar face who stole the show. Fred Vesti delivered the headline performance in his third Mercedes outing, slotting P3 just 0.074s behind Kimi Antonelli and confirming why Brackley keeps calling him back. The Dane dropped a hint afterward that he's hunting a 2027 race seat — bold talk for a driver operating under the radar, but Friday's pace backs it up.
Nikola Tsolov made his Racing Bulls debut count with P12, staying calm under scrutiny as a genuine contender for Lawson's seat. Team boss Alan Permane made it clear this wasn't an audition, but everything Tsolov does now carries weight. Ayumu Iwasa outpaced teammate Isack Hadjar by four tenths to finish P5, while Freddie Slater's Audi debut ended before it started when the team left a cooling fan attached in the pits. The 18-year-old gets a mulligan in Brazil.
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