Verstappen takes FP1 in Red Bull one-two!

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen has won the first practice session in Mexico, as the Dutchman led his teammate Daniel Ricciardo to a Red Bull one-two at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

Verstappen set the pace with a 1:16.656, which is just a few tenths slower than the track record in Mexico City.

The Dutchman won the Grand Prix in Mexico in 2017, as Lewis Hamilton sealed his fourth championship on the same day in a dramatic race. That same Hamilton finished FP1 in fifth, as Mercedes opted not to run on the softer hypersofts.

Ferrari couldn't get higher than P7 in FP1 for that same reason, with Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen not really hot-lapping during the session as they were over two seconds off the pace.

The first session of the weekend featured three unfamiliar faces. Well, three non-current F1 drivers. Lando Norris, Antonio Giovinazzi and Nicholas Latifi all suited up to do a run for their respective teams, with the former two having secured a seat at McLaren and Sauber respectively.

When the drivers came out for their first hot laps, it was the two Ferrari's who took an early lead. Vettel and Raikkonen were first and second for a while despite both drivers locking up on their hot laps. When the quicker cars got going, the Italian team quickly dropped down the order.

First, both Red Bulls leap-frogged the Ferrari's as the Bulls were on hypersofts rather than ultrasofts like Ferrari. Ricciardo led Verstappen in a Red Bull one-two, something which would only be briefly interrupted by Hamilton before Verstappen beat the Brit with an improved time. Ferrari dropped all the way down to P8.

In the second run, the Renault engines seemed to be thriving. Carlos Sainz and Nico Hülkenberg took third and fourth place respectively behind the two Red Bulls, where Verstappen had improved on his time and overtaken Ricciardo again. Renault engines in P1 up until P4, that's rather unusual!

Behind them stayed the Mercedes and Ferrari cars, with Hamilton beating the Italian team by over half a second. Concerning for Vettel and Ferrari, especially as Vettel *has* to win if he wants this title race to stay alive after this weekend. They didn't do any hot laps on hypersofts, that has to be said, but neither did Mercedes.

Of the new drivers, Nicholas Latifi was the quickest of the three. The Canadian beat local boy Sergio Pérez by a tiny bit, a small victory for him. Giovinazzi also beat his teammate Marcus Ericsson, and so did Norris in P15.