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Mexico City Grand Prix: Practice team notes - Ferrari

NEWS STORY
31/10/2026

Scuderia Ferrari HP completed 102 laps on the first day of track action at the Mexico City Grand Prix.

The SF-26 proved competitive in both sessions, in a very closely matched field. Therefore Charles Leclerc's fastest times in both FP1 and FP2 should be viewed taking into account that track conditions will continue to evolve tomorrow. The downside of the day came in the second session, when the team took the precautionary decision to ask Lewis Hamilton to stop his car at the side of the track due to a problem that will be investigated this evening. Over the two sessions, the team used all three available Pirelli compounds, working on both qualifying simulation and long runs. Now, there is still work to be done to ensure the team is competitive in tomorrow's qualifying session.

Charles and Lewis began the first session on Hard tyres before switching to Soft for their qualifying simulations. Charles set a time of 1'18"128, the fastest of the session, while Lewis recorded 1'18"866 to finish fourth. Towards the end, both SF-26s switched to doing long runs. Charles completed 29 laps and Lewis 25, giving the team a total of 54.

Both drivers began the second session on Medium tyres before the session was red-flagged to allow debris on the racing line, following a collision between two cars to be cleared away. After this brief interruption, the Ferraris resumed running on Soft tyres. Hamilton posted a 1'18"512 before a problem with his SF-26 prompted the team to take the precautionary decision to ask him to stop at the side of the track after 13 laps. Leclerc continued with the programme, improving first to 1'17"966 and then to 1'17"827, once again setting the fastest time of the session. Towards the end, Charles switched back to the Medium tyres used at the start of the session for a long run, completing 35 laps and bringing the team's total for the session to 48.

The team will analyse the data gathered during the two sessions, paying particular attention to the issue encountered with Lewis's car, with the aim of completing its investigation to be fully prepared for the remainder of the weekend.

Charles Leclerc: Overall, our performance looks quite alright but we still need to work on some of our limiting factors. It was quite tricky on track today, as the surface was slippery, so we will work on that to find some improvements for tomorrow.

Lewis Hamilton: It wasn't the most straightforward day for me, as I missed some running in FP1 and then had to stop early in FP2. Despite that, the car felt quick, so it was unfortunate that we had to stop before completing the long run. From a setup point of view, I don't think we need to make too many changes, as the car is working well. We'll investigate the issue tonight and do our best to be ready for tomorrow. I'm ready to make the most of what we have.

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