Hamilton fastest, but only a tenth ahead of Leclerc with Ferrari on the medium tyre; Stroll crashes into barriers in Racing Point
Saturday 26 October 2019 19:32, UK
Lewis Hamilton made the perfect start to a potentially title-clinching weekend in Mexico as he out-paced Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen to top the timesheets in a competitive first practice.
Hamilton will claim a sixth F1 championship on Sunday if he outscores Valtteri Bottas by 14 points in the race, and his 1:17.327 in the Mercedes was enough for top spot in the opening session - on a damp Mexico City track after overnight rain.
But Ferrari, billed as the pre-race favourites due to the long straight, will be happy with their pace as Leclerc was only a tenth off Hamilton despite setting his fastest time on the medium tyre compared to the Mercedes on the softs.
"That's the big key," said Sky F1's David Croft. "With the difference between the soft and mediums, that puts Ferrari on the front foot."
Martin Brundle added: "I think Ferrari will be pretty satisfied with that session."
Sebastian Vettel, also on the mediums in the other Ferrari, was only sixth and seven-tenths slower than his young team-mate.
The rest of the leading cars were on the quickest tyre and Max Verstappen ensured the top three were split by a tenth as he finished just behind Leclerc, while Red Bull team-mate Alex Albon was further back in fourth.
Bottas needs a miraculous finish to the season to deny Hamilton a sixth crown but he was only fifth, 0.6s off the pace.
Carlos Sainz took an increasingly regular seventh place for McLaren, who look likely to flourish again this weekend - although Lando Norris could only manage 14th.
Sainz's early form with Renault power is impressive considering neither Nico Hulkenberg and Daniel Ricciardo finished in the top-10 for the works team. The remaining spots were instead filled by Toro Rosso's Pierre Gasly and Daniil Kvyat, along with Antonio Giovinazzi in the Alfa Romeo.
Lance Stroll provided the one major incident of the session, causing a red flag after crashing into the wall in the Racing Point. The team managed to repair his car in time for him to get back out, although he finished down in 16th, a place ahead of team-mate and home favourite Sergio Perez.
Williams propped up the timesheets, with George Russell a second clear of Nicholas Latifi, the young Canadian who was replacing Robert Kubica in P1.
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