Bearman gets kudos from Mercedes after beating them in Mexico

After a few radio exchanges between George Russell and his race engineer, Mercedes decided to implement a position swap, allowing the Briton to attack with fresher tyres while Kimi Antonelli was managing a one-stop strategy to reach the finish.

However, neither Mercedes driver was able to get past Bearman. In the end, both Russell and Antonelli also lost out to Piastri, finishing sixth and seventh respectively after reversing the swap in the closing laps.

When asked whether Russell’s failure to pass Bearman was down to waiting too long to execute the swap, Bradley Lord responded during Mercedes’ customary post-Mexico race debrief: “In the second stint, yes. In the third stint, I think it simply shows that in Mexico, it’s a circuit where the tyres overheat in traffic, and so it’s very, very difficult to pass.

Lord went on to explain that the extremely small gaps between the front-running teams made things even more difficult, leaving very little room for overtaking — with Piastri being the only exception thanks to McLaren’s superior pace.

During Friday’s first practice session in Mexico, nine of the ten teams handed over one of their cars to a rookie driver — a move that inevitably made FP1 less indicative of true performance levels. Yet while it provided little insight into the competitive order ahead of a weekend that saw Lando Norris triumph, it offered a major learning experience for many.

The rookie roster featured a mix of Formula 2 prospects and drivers from other categories, all eager to make the most of their limited track time at high altitude.

So why has the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez become such a favourite for rookie outings? According to Lord, there’s a clear reason behind it.