New Zealand's Jonny Reid clocked the fastest time of Friday free practice in Mexico with a 1:28.174s. Oliver Jarvis for Team Great Britain came within a tenth of the pacesetter's best lap in second place as the timesheet order changed continuously showing promise of an exciting and unpredictable qualifying. The young Brit's performance was all the more impressive considering it's only his second race weekend.
Team Germany, who is leading the championship race with 30 points over Team New Zealand, was third fastest with Christian Vietoris. The 17-year-old is making his debut as Nico Hulkenberg's replacement.
A1 Team New Zealand's Jonny Reid said: "We just went out casually going through our normal programme making sure everything was right for the race. Then we got on with the job and realised the car was not quite on the pace. We just tuned in and sorted the problem and got P1 - we were pretty pleased about it."
A1 Team Great Britain's Oliver Jarvis commented: "This was my first time at the circuit and also only the second time I shall be doing the whole weekend so I am looking forward to that. It is a fantastic track and I am delighted to be here. It is one of those circuits where you have got to get into the groove. It is flowing with a lot of corners that lead onto each other. Fortunately I got to know the track well and made good progress in the rookie session. I made a few mistakes on the tyres but this was due to inexperience on the new tyres and I think we will be strong come the weekend and in qualifying. This is the second weekend and the first qualifying session for myself, as we all missed out on this in Beijing, so this will be a good experience."
The Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez is known to be a challenging track and with only A1 Team Brazil's Bruno Junqueira having raced here before, the drivers commented on the technicalities of the circuit and, in particular, the bumpy surface caused by the constantly moving ground the track is built on as this is an earthquake area.
A1 Team New Zealand's Jonny Reid said: "It is very challenging, especially in the final turn as there is no margin for error. You have to compromise entry speed and exit speed in the final turn. The final turn is a lot like the Parabolica at Monza, and that is a similar corner which I have driven before so I enjoy that. Also I think the S complex is very challenging with the high kerbs, as it is all about where you place the car. The bumps are another challenge, so it is all about positioning the car and getting the power down and putting a lap together."
Great Britain's Oliver Jarvis continued on the same subject: "It is quite a bumpy circuit and that does add another challenge. I will not say you can miss the bumps, but there are some better lines you can take through them to keep the car a little bit better settled. I am looking forward to my first qualifying session. Hopefully I can do a strong job but I think we will have a good race pace and I think here is going to be a circuit where we probably can overtake."
Salvador Duran, main driver for home team Mexico was optimistic for a good race weekend, despite also having to learn the track from scratch. "I am very optimistic about qualifying. I have never been on the track before. I made a couple of mistakes at the end so I could be a bit quicker. I don't think we will be on pole but I think we can be at the front. I think we have a good car, there are just a couple of small changes that we are already discussing. I think we are going to be okay so I am very happy," said Duran.
Mexico's rookie, Sergio Perez went on to say: "I really like being here at home and it is the first time I have driven here so it is very nice to be in front of all of you. All the support you are giving us is incredible. It is a dream for me to be here. It was dirty this morning and it was only at the end that you could set the good time, which showed just how dirty the track was. Everybody was improving their times and I think it should be possible as well to improve out time."
