P1racenews AI automatic summary:
Lewis Hamilton is to sit out first practice for the Mexico City Grand Prix this weekend, to be replaced by a Le Mans winner.
Lewis Hamilton will be replaced by Le Mans 24 Hours winner Antonio Fuoco in Free Practice 1 for this weekend’s Mexico City Grand Prix, due to Hamilton needing to fulfill his mandatory two rookie driver slots. Fuoco, who won the 2024 Le Mans race for the works Ferrari team, has been an occasional tester for the F1 team and last drove in the 2024 young driver test after the Abu Dhabi season-finale. This will be Fuoco’s first FP1 session this year, as he first sampled F1 machinery in 2015 and took part in young driver tests for the team in 2020 and 2021. In addition to Hamilton stepping out in Mexico, Max Verstappen will also miss FP1 for Red Bull, with Red Bull’s F2 protege Arvid Lindblad taking his place. Charles Leclerc has already completed his two FP1 sessions earlier in the year, with Dino Beganovic deputising for him in Bahrain and Austria.
