Ferrari taps Fuoco for Mexico FP1 as Hamilton steps aside
Ferrari will hand Antonio Fuoco a long‑awaited run in Formula 1 on Friday in Mexico City, with the Italian set to drive the SF-25 in first practice in place of Lewis Hamilton.
It’s a neatly full‑circle moment. Fuoco, now 29, was once a Ferrari junior before being released at the end of 2018, only to become a key part of Maranello’s modern backbone: a lead simulator and development driver who’s shouldered much of the team’s race prep work in recent years. He’s also been central to Ferrari’s World Endurance Championship success, including victory at the 2024 Le Mans 24 Hours.
“Got the call. Mexico see you on track for FP1. Let’s do this,” Fuoco posted on social media, confirming the outing.
The decision is driven by F1’s rookie mandate, which forces teams to field a driver with no more than two Grand Prix starts in at least two FP1 sessions per car each season. With Charles Leclerc already sitting out two Fridays earlier in the year, it’s Hamilton’s turn to make room. Dino Beganovic, Ferrari’s F2 prospect, handled those Leclerc sessions in Bahrain and Austria, finishing 14th at Sakhir (around 1.2s off Hamilton) and 18th at the Red Bull Ring.
Fuoco’s run will be his first appearance on an official F1 race weekend, more than a decade after his initial Ferrari test. He’s not a headline‑grabbing “rookie” in the classic sense, but he is exactly the kind of quiet weapon modern F1 teams rely on: steeped in simulator mileage, trusted with correlation work, and fluent in the language of tyre prep and run plans. If Ferrari wants a clean read on development items or setup options in Mexico, he’s a smart pick.
As for Hamilton, this shouldn’t materially derail his weekend—though it does tighten his runway. Ferrari is still hunting its first Hamilton podium of 2025, and missing FP1 at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez won’t help a campaign that’s already felt short of rhythm. But Ferrari’s logic is clear: Leclerc has already “paid” the rookie tax twice; Hamilton shoulders it now.
The calendar makes the timing even more predictable. Brazil and Qatar are sprint weekends with only one practice hour, hardly ideal for a rookie slot. Las Vegas, a low‑grip night street race, has “not now” written all over it. That leaves Abu Dhabi as the logical venue for Ferrari’s second rookie FP1 in Hamilton’s car later in the season.
What to expect? A conservative run plan for Fuoco, laps banked without any drama, and a handover that leaves Hamilton a straightforward FP2 to play catch‑up. Ferrari will lean on Fuoco’s sim feedback to map the SF-25 quickly; he knows the tools, he knows the procedures, and Ferrari knows what his references look like back at base.
There’s also a bit of symbolism here. Ferrari’s driver pipeline is deeper than a couple of bright F2 names. Fuoco is part of the fabric—the late nights, the simulator sweats, the race‑weekend fixes that don’t make the press release. Giving him a shot on a Grand Prix weekend says as much about how the team works as it does about ticking a regulatory box.
Still, the headline belongs to Hamilton for a different reason. Skipping FP1 in Mexico underlines how narrow the margins are as he chases that elusive first Ferrari rostrum. He’ll arrive in FP2 with data in his pocket but not the seat time, and around a circuit that typically punishes indecision, that’s a small added layer of difficulty he could do without. Then again, it’s Lewis Hamilton—no stranger to compressed Fridays, no stranger to making up ground fast.
For Ferrari, the calculation is simple: satisfy the rule, trust the process, and keep the weekend moving. For Fuoco, it’s a chance that’s been a long time coming. And for Hamilton, it’s another oddly 2025 kind of Friday—less track time, more to do, and one more subplot in a season that keeps asking for patience.
