Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc headed McLaren's Lando Norris in Friday practice at the Mexico City Grand Prix.

Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli, who is poised to clinch his first world title on Sunday, was fourth fastest behind team-mate George Russell.

Only a victory by Russell or Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton can theoretically stop Antonelli becoming champion on Sunday. Even then, Antonelli only needs ninth place if Russell wins and 10th if Hamilton does.

Leclerc, who topped both sessions on Friday, was 0.103 seconds quicker than Norris, with Russell just 0.003secs further adrift.

Antonelli was 0.217secs off the pace, and ahead of the Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar.

Leclerc's team-mate Lewis Hamilton was 11th overall after stopping on track with a technical problem before completing his qualifying simulation runs on the soft tyre.

Read the full report here

There were different fortunes for Ferrari in that second practice. While Charles Leclerc made it a Friday double in practice, seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton had to end his FP2 early with a power-unit issue.

Championship leader Kimi Antonelli was fourth on the timesheets, and that will be enough to crown him the new title winner if he was to finish there on Sunday. There's a reminder below of what the 20-year-old Italian needs to seal to championship at the Mexico City Grand Prix.

Time for us all to go to bed, I think. So let's get some rest and then regroup tomorrow from 17:15 GMT for build-up to third practice at 17:30.

Qualifying gets under way at 21:00.

See you tomorrow!

Image source, Getty Images

11. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)

12. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)

13. Esteban Ocon (Haas)

14. Oliver Bearman (Haas)

15. Nico Hulkenberg (Audi)

16. Franco Colapinto (Alpine)

17. Carlos Sainz (Williams)

18. Sergio Perez (Cadillac)

19. Alex Albon (Williams)

20. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)

21. Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac)

22. Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi)

1. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) - 1:17.827

2. Lando Norris (McLaren) +0.103

3. George Russell (Mercedes) +0.106

4. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) +0.217

5. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) +0.311

6. Isack Hadjar (Red Bull) +0.410

7. Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) +0.562

8. Pierre Gasly (Alpine) +0.580

9. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) +0.623

10. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) +0.642

Marc Priestley
Former F1 mechanic on Radio 5 Sports Extra in Mexico City

It's closer than most people expected. There'll be a lot of work happening overnight.

If you look at that top five, an extra tenth could completely shuffle that order.

With the session almost at an end, Charles Leclerc is going to make it a clean sweep for Friday practice. However, there's not much to separate the top five of Leclerc, Lando Norris, George Russell, Kimi Antonelli and Max Verstappen.

The other McLaren of Oscar Piastri is down in 10th place, with Isack Hadjar, rookie Arvid Lindblad, Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson all above him.

Marc Priestley
Former F1 mechanic on Radio 5 Sports Extra in Mexico City

It's so easy to make mistakes around this race track. We've seen so many people misjudge breaking points and running wide. When you get into qualifying and everyone's pushing to the absolute limit I expect more of that to come.

I imagine the people who make the fewest mistakes will come out best.

Isack Hadjar is calling into his pit wall to flag an issue. "Oh my god. I had the biggest bottoming of all time, check the car," says the Frenchman.

Do you think Cadillac can score a point before the season ends? The crowd will go wild as if it's a race win if Sergio Perez was the driver who managed to get the American team off the mark.

The drivers are deep into their long run simulations now, so the times on the tower will be staying the same.

We have all 22 cars on track, as Audi have fixed Gabriel Bortoleto's car, so the Brazilian can finally join the action.

The early incident between Max Verstappen and Liam Lawson, when the two drivers made contact, is going to be investigated after the session.

Esteban Ocon is being told by Haas they need to switch some tyres between himself and team-mate Oliver Bearman for his high-fuel run. The Frenchman asks if he's still going out on the soft tyres, to which his engineer replies no, it's now mediums. Ocon isn't happy, pleading with his pit not to do this to him.

Max Verstappen is on a hot lap on his soft tyres in front of the Mexican crowd, the Dutchman aiming to secure a seventh consecutive podium finish this weekend. Verstappen is a five-time winner on this high altitude circuit, his last victory in 2023 when he completed a hat-trick of top step appearances.

The Red Bull driver crosses the line but his attempt is only good enough for fifth spot, 0.311 seconds behind the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc.

The end of the lap is near for George Russell and as he crosses the line on his latest soft-tyre run, he jumps above team-mate Kimi Antonelli and into third place. The Mercedes driver is 0.106 seconds off Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, and only a fraction away from Lando Norris in second.

Only a perfect weekend will do for Russell in Mexico. He has to win on Sunday and hope Antonelli slips up to keep his slim title hopes alive.

Third is now fourth for Frenchman Isack Hadjar, as championship leader Kimi Antonelli goes within two tenths of Charles Leclerc time of 1:17.827 to sit P3 on the timesheets.

George Russell sat out of first practice, so the Briton is trying to get up to speed on the Mexican circuit. He's ninth so far, and is just starting his flying lap on the softs.

Max Verstappen is a behind in this session following his contact with Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson, but his Red Bull team-mate Isack Hadjar, who's not had the best of times with his car during this triple-header, has climbed the timing tower to third place, 0.410 seconds off Charles Leclerc's pace.

At this very early stage in the weekend, Charles Leclerc is looking like the man to beat. The Monegasque driver gets a clean lap in on the soft tyre and clocks a 1:17.966, which is 0.195 seconds faster than Lando Norris.

Lewis Hamilton has been picked up be the taxi bike and as the crowd cheer him back to base, he gives them all a royal wave.

Lewis Hamilton told his pit wall he lost all power in his Ferrari from Turn 13 at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

The virtual safety car is flashed for a short time before disappearing again so the session can continue.