Mercedes’ George Russell set the pace in a first practice session at the Mexico City Grand Prix punctuated by a heavy crash for Williams’ Alex Albon.

Russell was 0.317 seconds quicker than Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, with RB’s Yuki Tsunoda third from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, whose session ended early with an engine problem.

Albon tangled with Ferrari young driver Oliver Bearman, driving Charles Leclerc’s car for the session, and spun into the barriers at the Esses.

Albon called Bearman an “idiot” over the team radio after the Williams, on a flying lap, came across the Ferrari on a slow lap on the racing line.

The Ferrari engineers told Bearman over the radio that it was their fault, presumably for not warning him early enough of Albon’s presence. The incident, which forced a 13-minute red flag, will be investigated after the session.

A number of race drivers did not take part in the session – Lewis Hamilton’s car was driven by his 2025 replacement Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who was 12th fastest.

McLaren’s Lando Norris, Verstappen’s title rival, also did not take part, handing his car to IndyCar driver Pato O’Ward, who trialled a new floor the team have brought for this race after months of development.

O’Ward did not start the session with the new floor, but it was fitted for the final part of the hour.

Elsewhere, Fernando Alonso, celebrating his 400th grand prix this weekend, was replaced in first practice by reserve driver Felipe Drugovich, and Robert Schwartzman took over from Zhou Guanyu in the second Sauber, for whom Valtteri Bottas was eighth fastest.

The mix of drivers meant the session gave few clues as to the competitive picture for the weekend. And the gaps between the leading cars suggest little of note can be gleaned so far.

At Mercedes, Hamilton’s car continues with the upgrades introduced last weekend in Austin, even though both he and Russell crashed at Turn 19 in the course of the weekend.

Russell is using an older specification because he damaged his new parts with his qualifying crash.

The second session will last for an hour and a half rather than the usual hour to allow time for a test of Pirelli’s 2025 development tyres.

Teams will have to do a short and long run on two sets of new tyres in addition to their preparation work for the weekend.