Red Bulls run 1-2 in opening Mexico GP practice

Max Verstappen
Max Verstappen

The Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo easily ran 1-2 in opening practice for the Mexican GP. In the thin air and with dust flying up from the track, the Red Bulls appeared to be making the most downforce and were over 1-second faster than the rest of the field.

Carlos Sainz Jr. ran third for Renault ahead of his teammate Nico Hulkenberg.

2018 F1 champion Lewis Hamilton was 5th quick 1.4 sec. back.

The Ferraris of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen were really struggling over 2-seconds back.

Red Bull expected to be competitive here and so it looks based on that first session. Renault were the surprise package with Sainz and Hulkenberg ahead of Mercedes and Ferrari. But FP2 will be more representative of the conditions expected in both qualifying and the race – so expect a shakedown at the top of the leader board later on today.

Hamilton needs to finish 7th or higher this weekend to win the title regardless of where title rival Vettel finishes.

Mercedes need to out score Ferrari by 20 points to wrap up the constructors' title.

Practice 1 Results

POS NO DRIVER CAR TIME GAP LAPS
1 33 Max Verstappen Red Bull Renault 1:16.656 +0.000s 19
2 3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Renault 1:17.139 +0.483s 19
3 55 Carlos Sainz Renault 1:17.926 +1.270s 20
4 27 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1:18.028 +1.372s 21
5 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:18.075 +1.419s 23
6 77 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:18.322 +1.666s 27
7 5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:18.746 +2.090s 17
8 7 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:18.936 +2.280s 22
9 28 Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso Honda 1:19.024 +2.368s 29
10 34 Nicholas Latifi Force India Mercedes 1:19.078 +2.422s 23
11 11 Sergio Perez Force India Mercedes 1:19.124 +2.468s 29
12 36 Antonio Giovinazzi Sauber Ferrari 1:19.134 +2.478s 25
13 8 Romain Grosjean Haas Ferrari 1:19.276 +2.620s 26
14 9 Marcus Ericsson Sauber Ferrari 1:19.312 +2.656s 28
15 47 Lando Norris McLaren Renault 1:19.646 +2.990s 23
16 2 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren Renault 1:19.716 +3.060s 29
17 20 Kevin Magnussen Haas Ferrari 1:19.853 +3.197s 28
18 35 Sergey Sirotkin Williams Mercedes 1:19.899 +3.243s 30
19 18 Lance Stroll Williams Mercedes 1:20.142 +3.486s 26
20 10 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso Honda 2