Во время первой свободной практики Гран-при Мексики Фред Вести заменил Джорджа Расселла за рулем болида «Мерседес». В этом заезде, ставшем для новичка седьмым в практике Формулы-1, он показал круг на 0,111 секунды медленнее Кими Антонелли. Заместитель руководителя команды Брэдли Лорд назвал это лучшее выступление Вести среди всех его предыдущих заездов.

После практики Вести открыто заявил о своих амбициях. "most impressive" Пилот подчеркнул, что его цель — выступать в Формуле-1, и он считает себя очень хорошим кандидатом для машины «Кадиллак». "The timing couldn't be better. " Это заявление прозвучало в тот момент, когда команда еще не приняла окончательное решение по составу на 2027 год, а конкуренция за место в паре с Серхио Пересом идет между Вести, Колтоном Хертой, Валттери Боттасом и Юки Цунодой.

Джордж Расселл поддержал своего напарника по команде, отметив, что Вести много работает и заслуживает своего шанса. "He [Russell] was very happy. I think it's always difficult for a driver to give up their car for a rookie, but equally I've done this a lot now," Расселл добавил, что в большинстве предыдущих практик Вести выполнял основную работу по развитию машины, а не показывал время. "I've been working with George for the last four years and we've been very, very close. He's helped me a lot in F2 [Russell was champion in 2018, Vesti raced in 2022-23]. So to jump in his car was quite special and I think he trusted me to push the car. " Именно поэтому доверие команды и самого Расселла, позволившие Вести использовать мягкие шины в этом заезде, имеют большое значение. " Russell was full of praise for Vesti after the session, going out of his way to declare Vesti deserves a shot in F1. "

Вести отметил, что его третье выступление в первой практике на Гран-при Мексики хорошо совпало с текущим этапом переговоров с «Кадиллак». "So I think it was important for us as a team, and I said to the team, I want to ensure that he gets an opportunity to show what he can do. That's the least that we could do." Он подчеркнул, что предыдущие заезды были сосредоточены на развитии автомобиля, а не на показе скорости, поэтому возможность проехать на мягких шинах стала важным шагом в его карьере.

"I made a big step forward and managed to, not [fully] optimise because there's still a lot of laptime to find with more runs, but to really put a solid lap together which I can be proud of,"

"When I saw P3, I think any rookie driver's dream is to be punching the top three when you have one hour in the car. "

" Vesti's (dotted line) tenth-of-a-second loss to Antonelli (solid line) is partly explained by one gear choice. "

" Vesti said of his approach through Turn 16 on the way out of the stadium section. "

"I said straight after to George, 'Please can I do FP2 just to optimise my lap?' It's hard when you get one hour and if you imagine jumping on a soft tyre one lap to where you have the peak of the tyre, it's really difficult to optimise that one lap. "

" As well as his soft-tyre performance run, Vesti also completed important aerodynamic testing work for Mercedes on the hard tyres, helping it better understand its upgraded car and its narrower window than its predecessor. "

"It's a bit more unforgiving in some corners and I felt that during my soft tyre lap. I was sideways multiple times. So it's definitely a different car to drive."

"We started developing this car in the end of '24, which sounds crazy when you still have a world championship to fight for in '25, but this car has been on the way for a long time and I've sort of been leading that development in the simulator,"

"It's really been an interesting journey from design. The car didn't exist, we were running it in the sim, to finally seeing it come alive during testing and then finding out what sort of personality the car was, and then we've been developing it really well throughout the year. "

"It has really been an interesting year, and to see Kimi and George win races, it means a lot. "

" The 24-year-old has earned a strong reputation within Mercedes as a dependable, diligent and fast driver. He's far more than a typical back-up driver or a driver just there to tick off the mandatory practice outings. After all, Vesti estimates he's done around 300 days in Mercedes' simulator over his five years with the team, with between 150 and 200 laps completed on each of those days. That's over 50,000 laps. "

"I am a rookie, considering race starts, but within the team I'm not being mentioned any time [as] a rookie. There's a reason I'm called third driver. "

"It's a mixed feeling of frustration that there hasn't been a seat for me yet, given my F2 campaign and the level I've shown, but equally it's also a motivation that I know that these guys have made it. Ollie, Kimi, they're all doing amazing in F1,"

"It really gives me that trust that there's no reason I wouldn't be right at their level when I make it to F1."

"It's very clear that I have a knowledge bank bigger than most in Formula 1. I've sort of stepped up, step by step from '21 to '26, and in '26 I've been leading that development in the championship-leading car,"

"What has taken us here, I basically have been a crucial part of that, and know how that has happened. "

"Speed and racecraft, I don't think is a question. I feel ready, and I'm so hungry to get on the grid."

"I think some people can misunderstand my thoughts sometimes,"

"F1 is the only thing I care about. F1 is the only place I want to be, and everything I do on the side is for me to be prepared for Formula 1. "

"Also, what I'm hearing both from Mercedes and other people in F1, there is no reason not to be giving everything and trust that a seat could show up."