Ten drivers, including Verstappen, Russell and Norris, sit out first practice at Mexico City GP
Max Verstappen, George Russell and Lando Norris will miss the opening practice session in Mexico City as part of the sprint weekend format.
Mexico City will see an unusually thin first practice session for the 2024 Grand Prix, with ten drivers absent from the track. Among the high‑profile names sitting out are Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, Mercedes’ George Russell and McLaren’s Lando Norris. The move is a direct result of the sprint‑qualifying format that compresses the weekend schedule, forcing teams to allocate their drivers to either the sprint race or the traditional practice session.
According to Sky Sports, the drivers who will miss the Friday morning practice are Verstappen, Russell, Norris, Charles Leclerc, Carlos Sainz, Sergio Pérez, Fernando Alonso, Esteban Ocon, Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu. Their absence is not due to injury or technical issues; rather, the sprint weekend rules dictate that the drivers who compete in the sprint qualifying on Friday afternoon must forgo the first free‑practice session. This arrangement allows the sprint race to serve as a qualifying tool for the Sunday Grand Prix, effectively replacing the usual three‑day practice routine.
Crash.net adds that the teams will still have a second practice session on Friday afternoon, after the sprint qualifying, giving engineers a chance to fine‑tune setups before the sprint race. The reduced track time has raised concerns among some paddock insiders about limited data collection, especially on a circuit as demanding as the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, where altitude and temperature can significantly affect tyre performance and engine cooling.
For Indian fans, the sprint qualifying will kick off at 12:30 pm IST, followed by the second practice at 3:30 pm IST. The sprint race itself is slated for 5:30 pm IST, with the main Grand Prix race scheduled for 11:00 pm IST on Sunday. All sessions will be streamed live on FanCode, which holds the exclusive digital broadcasting rights for F1 in India. Viewers can also follow live timing and commentary on the official F1 app, which offers an Indian‑specific feed.
While the truncated practice schedule may limit the amount of on‑track data teams can gather, it also adds an extra layer of strategy to the weekend. Fans can expect a fast‑paced sprint race that will set the grid for Sunday, making the Mexican Grand Prix one of the most exciting sprint events of the season.
Source: Sky Sports