Hamilton fastest in first practice for Mexican GP

F1 Grand Prix, GP Mexico, Autódromo Hermanos Rodriguez

Lewis Hamilton was flat out of the block this morning as he set the fastest time of the first practice session in the Mexican Grand Prix weekend. Ferrari however were close towards the end of the session, less than 2 tenths slower than the pace setter.

Most of Mercedes' running was done on the medium tyres, but their fastest times were set on the softs, more than half an hour before the end of the session. At the time, both men sat atop the times, and it was only in the next thirty minutes that competitors improved to push Rosberg down to 7th on the final timing sheet.

Despite it being early days, Williams sure look to have the early edge on Force India here as both Perez and Hulkenberg set their best times here on the super softs, while Williams stuck with the softs.

5 minutes before the Mercedes set their best time, Max Verstappen returned to the pits with both rear brakes on fire. The fire extinguishers quickly dealt with the smoking Red Bull, which was then swiftly wheeled back into the garage so the mechanics could take a closer look. It didn't come this far for Daniel Ricciardo, but the team was seen rapidly removing the rear wheels and blasting the brakes with cold air as he returned to the pits as well.

Earlier on, Felipe Nasr had somewhat of a moment as he violently bumped over some kerbs. That in itself isn't much news, but soon after, a large part of his front wing desintegrated, leaving lots and lots of debris on the track. The subsequent red flag situation allowed marshals with leaf blowers to quickly clean the track. Felipe Nasr himself also later returned to the track with his Sauber car sporting a brand new front wing.