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.
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 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.