Mexico, FP1: Hamilton tops first practice session ahead of Leclerc

Lewis Hamilton went quickest in a tight opening practice session for the Mexican Grand Prix that saw the top three drivers separated by just over a tenth of a second. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was second with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen third.

Leclerc went quickest early on with a lap of 1:18.949, a little under a tenth ahead of Hamilton and two-time Mexican GP winner Verstappen.

The Dutch driver’s team-mate Alex Albon then moved to the top of the order with another run on soft tyres with Mercedes Valtteri Bottas second.

There was then a minor delay when Racing Point’s Lance Stroll lost control if his car exiting the Foro Sol stadium section and hit the wall on the left-hand side of the track. He was able to keep his car going, however, and he limped the short distance to the pit lane. The session was briefly red-flagged while the barriers were repaired.

Hamilton then posted a new fastest time of 1:17.327 and though Verstappen got close to finish 0.134 off the championship leader, Leclerc managed to split the top two with a good lap of 1:17.446, set on medium tyres.

Albon and Bottas finished fourth and fifth respectively, with the Red Bull driver a little under half a second off his team-mate.

Sebastian Vettel was sixth in the other Ferrari, almost nine tenths of a second off Hamilton’s pace, though like Leclerc the German stuck set his best time on medium tyres.

Seventh place in the session went to McLaren’s Carlos Sainz. The Spanish driver finished 1.074 seconds behind Hamilton but almost two tenths of a second clear of eighth-place Pierre Gasly of Toro Rosso.

Gasly was in turn more than two tenths ahead of team-mate Daniil Kvyat and the final top 10 slot was filled by Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi.