Ferrari mechanic suffers humiliating fall in front of Charles Leclerc at Mexican GP

A mechanic had a face as red as his shirt after a hilarious fall was broadcast on live TV.

It happened at the start of the final practice session of the weekend. Drivers are waved out of their garages by a mechanic who can judge whether it is safe for them to enter the pit lane.

However, one Ferrari staff member got a little too excited about the role - and promptly ended up with his legs in the air. As he jogged backwards, waving out of his garage, he tripped and rolled backwards on the tarmac of the pit lane.

Fortunately, Leclerc was only moving at a very slow pace so there was no danger of the mechanic being run over before he sheepishly got back to his feet. And the Monegasque saw the funny side as he said in Italian over the radio: "This is beautiful."

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And F1 TV commentator Alex Jacques held back a laugh as he watched the incident unfold. "Careful now!" he said, before adding: "He styled it out like a pro. I must admit, I cannot ever remember someone tripping up while coaxing a car out."

Leclerc comes into the Mexico race weekend as the most recent winner having dominated the US Grand Prix last Sunday. He had started fourth on the grid but enjoyed a great launch off the line and snuck by pole-sitter who was too busy defending from .

He had the pace to lead comfortably for the rest of the Austin race and led a first Ferrari one-two on American soil since 2006, with team-mate second. That result put the Scuderia just 48 points behind constructors' championship leaders with five rounds to go.

In Mexico, both Ferrari drivers were encouraged by the pace of their cars after the two sessions of Friday practice, despite red flags limiting the amount of running that could be done. But McLaren were the ones who shined in Saturday's FP3 session with fastest from team-mate Norris.

Sainz and Leclerc were both in the top six, though, and will expect to be in the mix for qualifying. As will Verstappen, who was fourth quickest in that final practice session .

needs to bounce back after one of the most wretched race weekends of his career in Austin and was fifth fastest in FP3. However, under-pressure home hero has to find more pace from somewhere before qualifying as the best lap he could muster left him way down the order in 14th.