Mercedes make fastest start in Mexico, but Red Bull and Ferrari use slower tyres; Verstappen third but makes big set-up change
Friday 27 October 2017 19:39, UK
Valtteri Bottas outpaced Lewis Hamilton in a Mercedes one-two in Practice One at the Mexican GP, on a weekend where the Englishman stands on the brink of winning his fourth world title.
Hamilton has dominated his Mercedes team-mate since the summer break but Bottas was the quicker of the two by a large 0.466-second margin in opening practice, after setting immediate lap-record pace on the ultrasoft tyres.
Red Bull and Ferrari, who are both expecting strong weekends, were over half a second off the pace but did not use the ultrasoft compound, the fastest available this weekend. Their respective cars lapped on the supersofts.
"We don't know the delta between tyres yet but it looks like we have a race on our hands," said Sky F1's Martin Brundle.
Fresh from a belated apology to the US GP stewards on Thursday night, Max Verstappen was third ahead of team-mate Daniel Ricciardo although lost the final 20 minutes of the session after deciding to make a "big" set-up change to his Red Bull in time for Practice Two.
Sebastian Vettel, who must outscore Hamilton by 17 points on Sunday to keep the title fight alive to Brazil, was fifth amid a messy session in which he twice went off the circuit, once across the grass.
Local hero Sergio Perez, whose presence in the field is helping ensure a sell-out crowd for race day, was a promising seventh after pipping McLaren's Fernando Alonso, although the Spaniard brings a 20-place grid penalty into the weekend.
But Force India's Mexican tester Alfonso Celis, taking over Esteban Ocon's car for P1, crashed into the Turn 16 barriers to bring out the red flags in the session's final quarter of an hour.
On a dusty track surface, Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen (sixth fastest) spun as did Sean Gelael (17th) in the Toro Rosso on his latest P1 outing.
McLaren's Stoffel Vandoorne completed just three laps after the new Honda power unit installed on his car for the session developed a problem and had to be changed.
The Belgian is already destined to start at the back of Sunday's grid after collecting a 35-place penalty. In addition to Alonso's 20-place demotion, Toro Rosso's returning Pierre Gasly has a five-place penalty for new engine elements.
See if Lewis Hamilton can clinch his fourth world championship at the Mexican GP exclusively live on Sky Sports F1. Sunday's race begins at 7pm. Want to watch but not got Sky F1? Buy a NOW TV pass from £6.99!
