Here's the thing about opening day at the Mexico City Grand Prix: figuring out the pecking order is a genuinely messy business. Oscar Piastri finished his Friday running with the feeling that McLaren's prospects for the weekend remain very difficult to know, despite putting in a reasonable shift across the two practice sessions.
Action kicked off with a slightly altered lineup in Free Practice 1, where Piastri was joined by the squad's reserve driver Leonardo Fornaroli. Piastri managed to put his machine eighth on the timesheets, while the rookie slotted into P17 after a session dedicated heavily to testing and running experiments to help put the car in the right spot for this unique high-altitude venue.
Lando Norris jumped back into the cockpit for Free Practice 2, immediately showing serious pace by ending the hour in P2 as the closest challenger to pacesetter Charles Leclerc. Piastri himself rounded out the second session in 10th place, surviving an eventful hour that featured a rather close call with the barriers and a soft-compound flying lap that he frankly described as pretty scruffy at the end.
Speaking after the sessions, the nine-time race winner kept his feet on the ground regarding their true competitive order. While Ferrari have looked very strong, the papaya squad appears all right, even if changing track conditions and a packed schedule of rookie drivers sitting out the morning session make everything a little bit tricky to read.
McLaren's Senior Racing Director Randy Singh backed up that positive assessment, singling out Fornaroli for doing a really good job working through a massive program of setup tests during the morning. Singh noted that while Friday was reasonable for the team, the top teams remain the same and the midfield looks considerably closer than at recent races, meaning Qualifying will be tight.
Attention now shifts to the remaining challenges of the weekend, with temperature management at this circuit threatening to catch teams out come Sunday. Numerous lock-ups were spotted across the field during Friday's running, and the team expects those exact same hurdles to carry right forward through the rest of the event.
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