Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes AMG) sets the quickest time in the first practice session at the Autodromo de los Hermanos Rodriguez, Mexico. The finn is followed by Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes AMG) and Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing).
In this first practice session we see four “junior” drivers taking the wheel: Charles Leclerc replaces Marcus Ericsson in his Sauber, Antonio Giovinazzi instead of Romain Grosjean at Haas, Sean Gelael in the Toro Rosso of Pierre Gasly and local boy Alfonso Celis in Esteban Ocon’s Force India. We also see Stoffel Vandoorne (McLaren Honda) and Brendon Hartley (Toro Rosso) starting the session with the Halo.
The session starts off pretty uneventful, but towards the middle of the session, Brendon Hartley moans about an engine failure and has to stop for an instant, before he gets the car moving again. We do see quite some drivers making mistakes like Sean Gelael and Kimi Raïkkönnen (Scuderia Ferrari), but it is Alfonso Celis who hits the jackpot. He hits the back of his car in the penultimate corner, causing a red flag for about 10 minutes.
No more incidents will occur during the session except for some lock ups. It is Valtteri Bottas who takes the checkered flag as fastest, in front of teammate Lewis Hamilton, both on the ultra soft tyres. The two Red Bull of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo in 3rd and 4th position, both on the super soft tyres. Sebastian Vettel (Scuderia Ferrari) and Kimi Raïkkönen follow in 5th and 6th, seeming a bit off pace.
Local “hero” Sergio Perez (Force India) pleases his home crowd as he manages a 7th position, followed by Fernando Alonso (McLaren Honda) in 8th, the spaniard again in the top 10. Felipe Massa (Williams) and Nico Hülkenberg (Renault) complete this top 10.
