Free practice in Mexico was characterised by a high degree of track evolution on a slippery surface, but the all-time track record for the current layout was already broken in FP1 – before being lowered further by Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo in FP2.

Ricciardo used the P Zero Purple ultrasoft tyre, brought to Mexico for the first time, to set his best time in the afternoon – nearly two seconds faster than last year’s FP2 time – and was also a pacesetter when it came to the long runs that simulated race stints.

The performance gap between the supersoft and ultrasoft compounds is in the region of 0.6 seconds so far. Weather conditions were mild but dry throughout the day in Mexico, with ambient temperatures around 22 degrees centigrade and track temperatures peaking at 43 degrees.

MARIO ISOLA - HEAD OF CAR RACING
“For much of the day the track was very slippery, which made it quite hard to obtain representative data, although the grip improved as expected with more running. Nonetheless, as has already been the case at a number of other races this year, we saw the track record broken first in FP1, then lowered again in FP2, thanks as well to our nomination of a softer compound here compared to previous years. We expect the track to continue to evolve throughout the weekend as there is no chance of rain, and judging from the initial long run times in free practice, it seems that we should be in for a closely-fought weekend among the frontrunners. We’ve seen runs with all three compounds meaning that, as was the case in Austin, all three are suitable for the race”.

FREE PRACTICE 1 – TOP 3 TIMES
DRIVER 		TIME       COMPOUND 
Bottas 		1m 17.824s ULTRASOFT NEW
Hamilton	1m 18.290s ULTRASOFT NEW
Verstappen 	1m 18.395s SUPERSOFT NEW

FREE PRACTICE 2 – TOP 3 TIMES
DRIVER 		TIME       COMPOUND
Ricciardo 	1m 17.801s ULTRASOFT NEW
Hamilton	1m 17.932s ULTRASOFT NEW
Verstappen 	1m 17.964s ULTRASOFT NEW

FP1 - BEST TIME BY COMPOUND
COMPOUND 	DRIVER 	   TIME
SOFT 		Verstappen 1m 19.317s 
SUPERSOFT	Verstappen 1m 18.395s
ULTRASOFT 	Bottas 	   1m 17.824s

FP2 - BEST TIME BY COMPOUND
COMPOUND 	DRIVER 	   TIME
SOFT		Ricciardo  1m 18.769s
SUPERSOFT	Vettel	   1m 19.278s
ULTRASOFT 	Ricciardo  1m 17.801s

MOST LAPS BY COMPOUND SO FAR
COMPOUND 	DRIVER 	   LAPS
SOFT 		Raikkonen  25
SUPERSOFT	Hartley	   29
ULTRASOFT 	Hamilton   38

TYRE STATISTICS OF THE DAY
			SOFT	SUPER	ULTRA
Kms driven* 		748 	1548 	2517
Sets used overall**	12	27	39

* The above number gives the total amount of kilometres
driven in FP1 and FP2 today, all drivers combined.
** Per compound, all drivers combined.