F1 champ-to-be in illness battle as Piastri left ruing ‘messy’ lap
Almost a certainty to become F1’s youngest ever world champion, Mercedes gun Kimi Antonelli might not be in much of a mood to celebrate in Mexico City having battled illness for much of the week.
The 20-year-old was excused from usual media duties on Friday (AEDT) with a virus that has swept through the paddock.
Piastri is optimistic with McLaren’s pace. Clive Mason
But it’s done little to slow his pace, finishing Saturday (AEDT) practice fourth-fastest, just over two-tenths of a second behind the pace-setting Ferrari of Charles Leclerc.
Antonelli holds a 123-point lead over Lewis Hamilton and teammate George Russell. With only 125 points remaining this season, Hamilton or Russell must win and have Antonelli fail to score points to keep their slim hopes of a championship mathematically alive.
Leclerc topped the time sheets in both practice sessions, setting up what should be a brilliant weekend for Ferrari.
Over at McLaren, Aussie Oscar Piastri finished 10th in FP2, half a second adrift of teammate Lando Norris.
Norris showcased tremendous pace of his own in the second practice, securing second on the timing sheets and trailing Leclerc by a narrow 0.103 seconds.
Earlier in the day, Piastri managed eighth in FP1 – a session that saw Norris step aside to let Leonardo Fornaroli take the wheel of the McLaren, with the rookie finishing 17th.
Despite his placement in the afternoon, Piastri remained unfazed by the car’s handling.
“It was difficult for sure, but I don’t think necessarily worse than what I was expecting, or if anything it was probably a little bit better than I was expecting. So yeah, everything felt OK.
“I think we seemed to be relatively competitive, to be honest.”
The Australian admitted his soft tyre lap failed to come together, but believed the team’s underlying pace is strong.
“My soft lap in FP2 was pretty messy, but I felt like the kind of overall pace seems to be there. So Ferrari looked very strong, which I guess you would kind of expect on a track like this, but I think we had a pretty good day,” he continued.
Oscar Piastri was only 10th fastest on the opening day of practice in Mexico City. Getty Images
“There were a couple of very big mistakes, so I’m optimistic that if I can tidy those up, I’ll be a lot further up as well, which is a nice feeling to have.
“To try and beat Ferrari tomorrow is going to be very tough. It’s very tight through the whole field, so you’re going to have to be completely on top of your game.”
In another bizarre moment in FP1, Freddie Slater - who was in Gabriel Bortoleto’s car for FP1 rookie practice - was called into the pits after the team had left a bright yellow fan in the car’s sidepod. Although a funny moment for fans and broadcasters alike, Audi will be expecting a fine for their mistake.
