Lewis Hamilton hits title equation as Valtteri Bottas struggles: Mexican GP FP1 Results

Mexican GP

Hamilton hits title equation as Bottas struggles: Mexican GP FP1 Results

Lewis would love a repeat on Sunday!

Matthew Scott

Friday 25 October 2019 18:30

Lewis Hamilton's pessimism ahead of the Mexican Grand Prix may have been unfounded after the Mercedes man emerged from the first practice session of the weekend top of the timesheets.

While Hamilton was fastest of all, team-mate Valtteri Bottas could only reach fifth on the leaderboard – a result that would deliver a sixth world championship to Hamilton if replicated on raceday.

Charles Leclerc was second, just a tenth adrift of Hamilton o harder tyres, while Max Verstappen was similarly in close quarters, although Sebastian Vettel was almost a second adrift, having made a mistake on his fastest lap.

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The second half of the session was red-flagged when Lance Stroll thudded the barriers exiting the stadium section, causing significant damage to the left-hand side of his Racing Point.

🚩 RED FLAG 🚩

Problems for @lance_stroll - he's into the barriers at the final turn 💥

The Canadian manages to get going again but heads straight back to the pits#MexicoGP 🇲🇽 #F1 pic.twitter.com/yKXVTMnEtK
— Formula 1 (@F1) October 25, 2019

The Canadian was able to get going again in the session but it remains to be seen if there will be an impact over the remainder of the weekend in the form of grid penalties.

Mexican GP FP1 results

1. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 1:17.327
2. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 1:17.446
3. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 1:17.461
4. Alexander Albon (Red Bull) 1:17.949
5. Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) 1:18.005
6. Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) 1:18.218
7. Carlos Sainz (McLaren) 1:18.401
8. Pierre Gasly (Toro Rosso) 1:18.593
9. Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso) 1:18.835
10. Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo) 1:18.959
11. Nico Hulkenberg (Renault) 1:19.011
12. Kevin Magnussen (Haas) 1:19.013
13. Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo) 1:19.205
14. Lando Norris (McLaren) 1:19.299
15. Daniel Ricciardo (Renault) 1:19.499
16. Lance Stroll (Racing Point) 1:19.679
17. Sergio Perez (Racing Point) 1:19.717
18. Romain Grosjean (Haas) 1:19.850
19. George Russell (Williams) 1:20.548
20. Nicholas Latifi (Williams) 1:21.566