
Verstappen, Red Bull dominate as Renault spring huge surprise
Verstappen, Red Bull dominate as Renault spring huge surprise

Red Bull made good on their Mexican Grand Prix promise as Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo ran first and second in the opening practice session at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. Renault caused the biggest stir in FP1 as they took third and fourth in the session, while Ferrari languished fourth fastest, putting Sebastian Vettel's hopes of taking a crucial victory in doubt.
The effects of altitude effectively balance out engine power, ensuring that Renault's power deficit is not as keenly felt.
And Red Bull proved that their chassis remains strong as Verstappen clocked a top time of one minute 16.656 seconds.
Much of the drivers' focus was tyre degradation as Pirelli's hypersofts struggled to cope.
Kevin Magnussen said his tyres felt like "chewing gum", while his Haas team-mate Romain Grosjean complained that it felt like he was driving in the wet – despite blazing sunny skies in Mexico City.
FP1 CLASSIFICATION: @redbullracing and @RenaultSportF1 ???? lead the way #MexicoGP ???????? #F1 pic.twitter.com/Qyqb373oGa — Formula 1 (@F1) October 26, 2018
Although he also requires a string of poor races for Hamilton, Vettel needs to take victory in the remaining three races of 2018 to stand a chance of winning the title, however the German was seventh, over two seconds down on Verstappen's time.
Needing a seventh-place finish to secure his fifth title, Lewis Hamilton ran fifth-fastest to suggest Mercedes have the pace to see the Briton crowned in Mexico for a second year in succession.
MORE: Hamilton set for title in Mexico - but not race win?
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F1 Standings

Drivers
- Charles Leclerc
- Carlos Sainz
- Lando Norris
- Oscar Piastri
- Pierre Gasly
- Esteban Ocon
- Sergio Pérez
- Max Verstappen
- Alexander Albon
- Logan Sargeant
- Lewis Hamilton
- George Russell
- Nico Hülkenberg
- Kevin Magnussen
- Fernando Alonso
- Lance Stroll
- Valtteri Bottas
- Zhou Guanyu
- Nyck De Vries
- Liam Lawson
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Yuki Tsunoda
Races
-
Gulf Air Grand Prix of Bahrain 2023
-
Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2023
-
Grand Prix of Australia 2023
-
Grand Prix of China 2023
-
Grand Prix of Azerbaijan 2023
-
Miami Grand Prix 2023
-
Qatar Airways Gran Premio Del Made In Italy E Dell'emilia Romagna 2023
-
Grand Prix of Monaco 2023
-
AWS Gran Premio de España 2023
-
Grand Prix du Canada 2023
-
Grand Prix of Austria 2023
-
Aramco Grand Prix of Great Britain 2023
-
Grand Prix of Hungary 2023
-
Grand Prix of Belgium 2023
-
Heineken Dutch Grand Prix 2023
-
Grand Prix of Italy 2023
-
Grand Prix of Singapore 2023
-
Grand Prix of Japan 2023
-
Qatar Grand Prix 2023
-
Grand Prix of the United States 2023
-
Gran Premio de la Ciudad de Mexico 2023
-
Rolex Grande Prêmio de São Paulo 2023
-
Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix 2023
-
Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi 2023
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