Tag: Results

Fernando Alonso has admitted he thought a Sao Paulo Grand Prix podium “was gone” before reclaiming third place from Sergio Perez on the final lap of the race to conclude a thrilling battle between the pair.

Having spent the majority of the race chasing Alonso, Perez finally passed the Aston Martin on the penultimate lap of the race with a move into the first corner that appeared to have sealed a double podium for Red Bull, with world champion Max Verstappen easing to victory.

However, a small error from Perez gave Alonso the opportunity to retake the final podium spot in the second DRS zone on the run to Turn Four on their final tour, before the Spaniard held on to the position by just 0.053s on a charge to the finish line.

Alonso explained to Sky Sports F1 that he thought he had blown his chance of responding by running off line on the penultimate lap as he attempted to hit back having been passed.

“Honestly, I thought that maybe my chances were gone in Turn Six,” he said.

“I went on the outside to change line but then I picked up a lot of marbles and the tyres were dirty, they were vibrating as well and I thought, ‘ok, this is gone’.

“But then I wanted to have one more chance into Turn One or Turn Four with the DRS, maybe braking very aggressive, very late.

“I think he understood that as well, so he broke late into Turn One, missed the apex by one metre and that gave me the run into Turn Four.

“Unexpected, to be honest, when I lost the place I thought it was gone.”

Perez: Other drivers can learn from our battle

Perez, who crashed out of last weekend’s Mexico City Grand Prix and last month’s Qatar Grand Prix Sprint following collisions, said that other drivers could learn from the way he and Alonso had fought for position.

“It was quite an intense battle,” Perez told Sky Sports F1. “We tried everything.

“Unfortunately we didn’t succeed on that, but it was well deserved for Fernando.

“I think we had a great fight, very fair and to the limit. I think this is something that a lot of drivers can learn from because what we did, the way we fought today, it’s how it should be done.

“I’m in the wrong side, I end up losing but it’s fine because it was a great fight.”

Alonso agreed that it had been a “clean” contest, and admitted he was surprised to find Perez had matched his tyre-saving ability going into the final stages.

“It was nice, it was a clean battle,” Alonso said. “A very aggressive, but clean battle. Always with Checo I think he has a very good record on finishing the races and always battling hard but keeping both cars on track.

“I knew that he was coming, I knew that he was a threat, and at the end it was maybe more difficult than I thought, to be honest.

“Five laps to the end, I thought that I had things under control, so I start pushing and then I look in the mirror and Checo was there, and I said ‘uh oh, I think he was saving tyres as well’.”

Perez: Matter of time before podium | Alonso happy for ‘united’ Aston Martin

Perez came into the weekend under major pressure amid continued speculation that Red Bull could look to replace him next season, despite a year still remaining on his contract.

While his run of races without a podium extends to six, a solid display in coming from a starting position of ninth to finish fourth was an improvement on many of his recent efforts.

“We’ve seen in the last couple of races that the pace has been there, that we’ve been really strong,” he added.

“For some reason or another we haven’t been able to get the final end result, but I just know that it’s a matter of time.”

Alonso’s podium puts an end to a dismal run of form from Aston Martin, with the Spaniard having retired from the previous two races after qualifying outside the top 10 on both occasions.

After a stunning start to the season which saw them surprisingly emerge as Red Bull’s closest challengers, the Silverstone-based team have failed to keep up with the development of the likes of Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren.

However, after choosing not to go with some of the upgraded parts that have failed to provide improvement, they returned to prominence in Brazil, with Alonso’s team-mate Lance Stroll finishing fifth.

“In the end I’m happy that we did it for the team,” Alonso said.

“We’re struggling a lot in the last two races but we never lost focus on what were the targets, we went deep in the analysis, we stayed united, we stayed together and this was a very nice thing to witness in the last two events.”

Get ready for the big one: Formula 1 in Las Vegas! See drivers race down the Strip, and past landmarks like Caesars Palace and the Bellagio, on F1’s newest street track. Watch the whole Las Vegas GP weekend live on Sky Sports F1 on November 17-19. Stream F1 on Sky Sports with NOW

Formula 1 returns to the legendary Interlagos Circuit on the outskirts of Sao Paulo, Brazil, in part three of the triple header across the Americas, and even if they are tired, the teams and drivers will be arriving with a bounce in their step and smile on their face.

Why the optimism, we hear you ask?

Sao Paulo has a knack for delivering surprises, shocks and a sprinkle of that Senna magic.

We looked back at seven of our favourite moments from one of F1’s best Grand Prix.

1991: There was only one Senna

Sport is an integral part of Brazil’s culture, and while football and Pele are No. 1, F1 and Ayton Senna are a close second in terms of legacy.

To say that Senna was special would be an understatement – a hero on and off the track, he was more than capable of winning more than the three world drivers championships were it not for his tragic death at Imola in 1994.

Despite being the home favourite, even Senna struggled to tame the beast that is Interlagos, where anything can happen, and it usually does.

By 1991, Senna was in his eighth season, looking for his first victory at home despite already being a two-time F1 champion.

He qualified on pole position, and it looked like he’d finally do it the easy way as he pulled out a lead.

But Senna – as you sense with Lewis Hamilton in this era of F1 – never did things the easy way.

His McLaren’s gearbox had jammed, and he was stuck in sixth gear, taking the Brazilian to a new level of difficulty in an era with no power steering, which massively increases the exertion on the driver’s upper body.

In 2023, a driver would usually have retired the car, and it was the same situation on this day.

But Senna is not usual – while he wanted to stop, his desire to win the race and raise the flag for his people gave him a hero-like inner strength to take him to the chequered flag.

When he got the job done, the relief and emotion came flooding through on the radio in the form of screams, audible sobbing and the words “I can’t believe it”.

Before he could return to the pit lane to celebrate, Senna passed out at the wheel due to the immense muscle spasms.

While he could not find the strength to eventually lift the trophy, he could raise the Brazilian flag to the delight of his fans – “there could only be one result”, said Senna following the race.

2008: Magnanimous Massa loses out to last-gasp Lewis

Brazil’s hopes of championship success returned when Felipe Massa headed into the 2008 finale needing to win the race with his rival Lewis Hamilton in sixth position or lower – a challenging task – but the home crowd believed.

They especially believed having seen Ferrari’s other driver Kimi Raikkonen beat title rival Hamilton a year earlier.

On the day, Massa did everything he needed to do, winning the Grand Prix in perhaps his most dominant performance – but sometimes even a heroic drive is not enough in F1.

The Interlagos Circuit has a microclimate, allowing rain showers to arrive unexpectedly.
On this day in 2008, a downpour of rain came with just a handful of laps to go.

A young Sebastian Vettel overtook Hamilton for fifth place, putting Massa on course to be champion.

The home crowd erupted.

They thought their driver had done it.

However, another young German called Timo Glock had elected to continue on his dry tyres on the wet track while others had pitted – a risk that nearly paid off.

In a frantic finish matched only by Abu Dhabi 2021, in the final corner of the last lap of the final race, Hamilton took the position he needed to become champion.

Massa, Ferrari and the Brazilian fans thought they had won, but they were wrong.

The news filtered through, and despite losing out, a hurting Massa put on a brave front, sharing love with his people, beating his heart and pointing to the fans.

A genuinely gracious gentleman had become an eternal hero in his city despite losing on the day.

The McLaren garage, on the other hand, were breathless, bouncing around as they had snatched victory from the jaws of defeat at a track where they had lost out in gut-wrenching fashion just a year earlier.

Hamilton and team Woking were the away team, and looked to have lost out, but in the against-all-odds fashion that we have become used to in Hamilton’s career, he had become the youngest-ever world champion (at the time).

The first of many titles for the now honourary Brazilian.

2012: Vettel matches Senna – the hard way

While 2008 was a fight for two drivers’ first, 2012 saw the titans of Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel take one another on to become a triple world champion.

Becoming a triple world champion in Brazil is extra special – this is the number of titles Ayrton Senna managed.

And irony would strike when Vettel was tagged by Senna’s nephew, Bruno, on the first corner, leaving the German, who was leading the championship by 13 points, facing the wrong way and last.

Things got even better for Alonso when he slipped past team-mate Felipe Massa and Vettel’s team-mate Mark Webber to take third position – the Spaniard was in place to win the championship.

Vettel, though, was not in the mood to give up, and despite the damage he had sustained, somehow had made his way to eighth position by lap eight.

Things were thrown up in the air again when leaders Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton collided on the ever-slippery surface, moving Alonso into second position.

But it wasn’t enough to beat the might of Vettel, who passed his hero Michael Schumacher on his way to emulating Senna, crossing the line in tears to secure the title.

While Vettel was the winner, like 2008, it was the runner-up and his thousand-mile stare that will live on as some of F1’s most iconic content.

2016: Senna-esque through the ‘Senna S’

Max Verstappen returns to Sao Paulo this weekend for the first time since matching perhaps one of F1’s most famous triple world champions in Senna, and the Brazilian Grand Prix in 2016 rubber-stamped just how special a talent the young Dutchman was.

This race came towards the end of the third and final episode of the Silver Arrows’ internal tussle between Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.

The race began beneath the safety car due to some of Sao Paulo’s spectacular rain – but six laps later, conditions were deemed safe enough to get under way.

Hamilton led away from lights to flag, keeping his title chances alive. While this was an impressive drive, Verstappen had all of the attention.

First, the 19-year-old pulled off a daring move up the inside of Kimi Raikkonen into the first corner, finding grip that other great drivers, including Raikkonen and Vettel, could not.

This was exemplified again as Verstappen moved into second position with a jaw-dropping move around the outside of the eventual 2016 champion Rosberg.

The youngster showed his inexperience and raw talent in a flash when it came to lap 38 – his car looked as though it was destined for the barriers, but Verstappen’s supreme car control allowed him to do what the experienced, local Massa could not.

Massa crashed out of what he thought would be his final Grand Prix, leading to an emotional walk back to the pit lane, greeted with applause from the Mercedes and Ferrari garages before reaching the arms of his wife in the paddock – while it had been raining hard, this was a moment which ensured no dry eye.

Back on track, Verstappen pitted for fresh tyres, dropping to the lower reaches of the points.

That gave us the gift of watching him fight back, including an uncompromising move on Vettel, which we have become accustomed to.

Hamilton had finally won in Brazil – an emotional moment for him as a fan of Senna – but Verstappen’s drive had captured F1’s attention, and he has only improved since.

2021: The villain becomes the hero

Formula 1 arrived at Sao Paulo with Lewis Hamilton needing some magic – Verstappen had reached the moment in the battle where another win would seriously dent Hamilton’s title defence.

In short, Hamilton needed to win, but this was at a circuit where the fans had good reason to think of him as the pantomime villain.

This was the season that had everything, including, for the first time, Sprint weekends, and in the other two weekends, Hamilton and Verstappen had come together in major flashpoints.

But this was something the Mercedes driver could not afford.

Things looked to be going swimmingly as Hamilton dominated Friday’s only practice session before qualifying comfortably on pole position by almost half a second for Saturday’s Sprint.

But this is F1, so things could hardly go the easy way – the sport’s governing body, the FIA, discovered that Hamilton’s rear wing had broken and his DRS (drag reduction system) had opened 0.2mm wider than was legal, so he was disqualified and sent to the back of the grid.

Anything can happen in Brazil, but nobody would have predicted the sort of comeback Hamilton would need to produce – this would need to be Senna-like if he wanted to keep his championship alive.

The seven-time champion wasted no time in Saturday’s Sprint, slicing through the field to take fifth position, meaning he could start 10th in Sunday’s Grand Prix after his already-scheduled five-place grid penalty.

Again, Hamilton made light work of the majority of the field, but his final target was his rival, the leader, Max Verstappen.

Verstappen made his car as wide as possible – at times, taking Hamilton off the track in what Sky Sports‘ Martin Brundle described as a ‘professional crowd’.

But like Senna, Hamilton thrives when his back is against the wall.

The Briton found a way through, boosting his championship hopes, and celebrated with the fans with parallels to Senna in 1991, with the Brazilian flag raised.

While Hamilton was dominant in 2016, 2021 was the year in which Hamilton became a legend in the Brazilian hearts – and eventually, an honorary citizen.

Another race like no other in this place like no other.

2022: A weekend of firsts

If you want proof that anything can happen in Sao Paulo, 2022 brought you a Haas pole position.

Like in 2021, qualifying for Friday set the grid for Saturday’s Sprint, which, in turn, set the starting order for Sunday’s Grand Prix.

Friday night saw a dose of challenging rain – the final session saw the top 10 drivers rushing out as the rain intensity increased, and it was Kevin Magnussen first across the line with the fastest time.

Max Verstappen was in second position on the timing screens, followed by the Mercedes’ of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton – but nobody could set a quicker time because Russell went straight on at turn four, getting stuck in the gravel.

This brought out the red flag, and when Magnusen was told of his position, the response was, “you’re kidding”, along with several expletives – similar to the reaction you would imagine from Gunther Steiner.

The Dane was on pole, and the scenes in the garage from Magnussen, who thought he was out of F1 in 2021, were something to behold.

In the Saturday Sprint, the Haas fairytale faded, but the magic of the Brazilian weekend had not ended.

This season, we have been used to the sight of Verstappen taking the lead by lap four, but when that happened in the Saturday Sprint in 2022, it was the Dutchman who then struggled.

Russell passed the Haas of Magnussen and swarmed around the back of Verstappen’s Red Bull like an angry wasp.

He was determined too – Verstappen put up a fight almost as firm as the one he had had with Hamilton a year previously – but Russell slipped through, crossing the line fine to start the Grand Prix from the front.

The Mercedes both looked quick, but it was Russell who snatched the Silver Arrows’ only opportunity to taste victory in 2022.

It was a mature drive, too – it would have been easy for the younger Brit to make a mistake with Hamilton breathing down his neck with just a handful of laps to go at a Grand Prix, which feels like and is technically Hamilton’s second home race.

It has been a year since Mercedes’ last win in F1.

It now appears to be Russell on the backfoot compared to Hamilton.

Mercedes and Russell hope they can use the positivity of last year to do their talking on the track to answer what will be many questions regarding the departure of Mike Elliott as chief technical officer.

Hamilton will also enter the weekend with victory the target – he is returning home following an excellent performance in Mexico, which his engineer Peter Bonnington referred to as feeling “like the old days”.

The immense support and the Sao Paulo magic will also help him and his team dream.

Find out what surprises are in store at this weekend’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix, live on Sky Sports F1.

Lewis Hamilton produced a brilliant drive to finish second to Max Verstappen in Mexico City; George Russell was hampered by a brake issue as he came sixth; watch every session from the final Sprint event this year in Sao Paulo -starting this Friday live on Sky Sports F1,

Lewis Hamilton hailed taking an “amazing” second place in the Mexico City Grand Prix after coming from sixth on the grid to finish behind Max Verstappen.

Hamilton was left disappointed on Saturday as Mercedes struggled to get their tyres into the optimal working window in qualifying, but found a more satisfactory balance in the W14 in the race.

The result reignited Hamilton’s hopes of denying Red Bull a first ever one-two in the drivers’ championship, with his deficit to second placed Sergio Perez reduced to 20 points after the Mexican retired from his home race.

“Honestly, I just wasn’t expecting that. It’s just always a great feeling when you are just putting one foot in front of the other and progressing,” Hamilton told Sky Sports F1.

“The weekend had been really difficult compared to the last race where we had just hit the ground running. This weekend I was really digging deep to try and get the set-up right and I think we did a great job.

“Qualifying was a bit tricky and to be far behind the Ferraris, we need to finish ahead of them to keep the constructors’ [position] so that’s what I was pushing for today.

“To have progressed so well through the early phase of the race and be challenging for a podium and then a second place is amazing. I am really happy with the race.”

Hamilton gained a spot at the start when Perez was forced to retire after colliding with Charles Leclerc.

He overtook Daniel Ricciardo for fourth after 10 laps but got stuck behind Carlos Sainz, who had just enough pace to keep the Mercedes driver at bay.

Hamilton undercut Sainz, so was in third place when the race was stopped by a red flag after Kevin Magnussen’s big crash at Turn 8 at the halfway point of the Grand Prix.

Mercedes bravely put Hamilton on medium tyres for the restart, whereas the other leading runners were on hards. It paid off though as the seven-time world champion made a daring move on the inside of Leclerc, briefly putting two wheels off the track to get past the Ferrari driver and take second place.

Expanding on where the W14 had improved from Saturday, Hamilton added: “I think the car is just quite peaky in qualifying on light fuel, but when you put a load of fuel in the car, it just feels nicer to drive and I think we struck a really nice set-up this weekend and particularly today for the race.

“Other than that, just really good tyre management. I generally enjoyed it. It’s not the most physical of races, being that you can’t push all the way, you’re saving, you’re doing 200 or 300 metres of lifting and coast to keep the car cool and stop it from failing.”

Wolff: Brilliant drive from Hamilton

It was the second successive event where Hamilton has shown strong pace, after he pushed Verstappen close for the win in Austin, only to be disqualified for excessive plank wear.

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff was impressed by Hamilton’s performance, especially on the medium tyres in the second half of the race as the 38-year-old set the fastest lap of the race on his final circuit.

“The smile on our face is because the car was strong. Once Lewis was in free air, we had so much margin in the medium. The lap times were good and fastest lap at the end,” Wolff told Sky Sports F1.

“It’s been a few weekends now where we say we ‘could have’ but didn’t. I think we need to qualify better. Probably with the straight line speed we wouldn’t have been so competitive against Max, but who knows, the pace is there.

“It was a brilliant, brilliant drive from Lewis. We have these oscillations in performance and we don’t really know sometimes if the tyres stick. Just a few degrees of track temperature and you are out of the window.”

Russell explains ‘terrible’ end to race

George Russell, in the other Mercedes, had a frustrating race as he found himself on the back foot when stuck behind Oscar Piastri in the opening stages stint.

Russell wasn’t happy about the timing of his first pit stop as he came out in traffic and was seventh when the race resumed following the red flag.

He overtook Piastri and Ricciardo but couldn’t find a way past Sainz, who defended well to hold onto fourth place.

During this battle, Russell overheated his brakes and lost a position to a charging Lando Norris and only finished half a second ahead of Ricciardo at the chequered flag to take sixth.

“The last 20 laps were terrible,” Russell said.

“The pace was really strong after the red flag. I felt really good in the car, I was right behind Carlos and just couldn’t quite make the overtake, then my brakes overheated and we were concerned we wouldn’t make it at the end and I had to back of.

“As soon as I did that, I lost all the temperature in my tyres and I could never recover it and it was like driving on ice.

“I was lucky to finish in P6. Story of the weekend – another difficult one and it’s a shame because the car was performing well.”

F1 heads straight to Brazil for the final leg of the Americas triple header and the last Sprint weekend of the 2023 season. Watch every session from the Sao Paulo Grand Prix live on Sky Sports F1 from Friday, with Sunday’s race at 5pm. Stream F1 on Sky Sports with NOW

Very few people expected Ferrari to lock out the front row for the Mexico City Grand Prix but Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz performed when it mattered most at the business end of qualifying.

The Ferrari duo got their tyres into the optimal working range as Max Verstappen admitted his Red Bull car got away from him as he pushed a little too hard.

But, given Red Bull have only been beaten once on a Sunday all season, world champion Verstappen inevitably remains favourite for the 71-lap race – which starts at 8pm live on Sky Sports F1 – when he will aim to beat his own record of 15 wins in a single campaign

Much of Ferrari’s hopes will likely rest on the race’s opening seconds and holding one-two formation on the long run down to the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez’s first corner.

In 2019, Leclerc started from pole alongside then-Ferrari team-mate Sebastian Vettel and they kept the field at bay after the 811m charge to the opening right-hander. But, it can get very feisty there as Lewis Hamilton and Verstappen showed in that same race when they made contact just behind the leaders.

In 2021, Verstappen made a stunning move late on the brakes to overtake the Mercedes of Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas, so don’t be surprised if we see a three-wide moment going into the first corner.

“It’s a very difficult race. Everything can happen, especially with the cooling. Whichever car is behind can do a bit more management, so it can play in our favour but for that we need a good start,” said Leclerc.

“Starting first here is always tricky to keep that position into the first corner but we have had pretty good starts here, so I’m confident we can keep that place.

“This year Max has been extremely strong on the race pace so at the moment we still have a lot of work to do to match them with our race pace.

“It’s a very special track for strategy, especially with high altitude, tyre management will be a huge thing. We will have to be on top of this. For the strategy, we will adapt on the go to try and keep that first place.”

How might Ferrari play the start to keep Verstappen behind?

If all goes to plan for Ferrari, Leclerc should immediately move over to the right hand side from pole to tow team-mate Sainz down to Turn One and leave Verstappen with no slipstream, potentially leaving the Dutchman vulnerable to Daniel Ricciardo – who qualified a superb fourth for AlphaTauri – or the Mercedes’ of Hamilton, sixth, and George Russell, eighth.

Then, Sainz should go to the outside of Leclerc in the braking zone and not race his team-mate too hard so the Ferrari pair can retain their one-two positions.

Asked by Sky Sports F1 if the team-mates can work together at the start, Sainz said: “If we can of course. But it’s impossible to predict whether we will be able to do so. A few metres better start than Max or Charles and suddenly we cannot play with slipstreams anymore.

“I will just try and do the best possible start because I am starting on the dirty side so my start will be weaker than Max and Charles, then we can see where we are at.”

Will Ferrari be able to manage their tyres?

On paper, strategy shouldn’t be too difficult for the Mexico City Grand Prix because it’s a low degradation track, so a one-stopper should be the way forward.

The only big threat Ferrari will face if they are one-two is from an undercut or overcut. It’s likely that Verstappen will have to overtake one, or both, of Leclerc and Sainz on the track – perhaps in a similar fashion to Monza back in September when he overcame both to win.

It’s tyre management where Ferrari could be vulnerable compared to the usually exceptional wear Red Bull have had this year. Keeping the tyres in the right window will be just as important as the wear though given the altitude of the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, which is 2.2km above sea level.

Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur suggested that there could be other factors that come to play due to the nature of the track.

“On the long stints we mainly focused on cooling (on Friday), like Mercedes, McLaren and Red Bull. Everyone will be more focused on the brakes and engine,” said Vasseur.

As for Sainz, he may have to play rear-gunner behind Leclerc in order to keep Verstappen behind and he is not too optimistic about his chances.

“It will be very difficult because of the race pace they have. Normally one way or the other, or by simply offsetting their pace with a tyre advantage, they can finish ahead,” admitted the Spaniard.

“Given their race pace, at one point or another he will have a chance to overtake us and it will be up to us to manage the strategy and situation to keep him behind.”

As for Verstappen, he didn’t have much to say post-qualifying and appeared to be quietly confident about his chances of winning as long as he can get through the opening corners unscathed.

“I always learned that you can never repeat the same start,” said Verstappen in response to a question about whether he could repeat that surging Mercedes-beating getaway from the same position on the grid two years ago.

“Of course you can look at it. Depend on how good your start is, the line into the first corner, track conditions.

“It’s more just an instinct and once you do your start you make your mind up on what you want to do. It’s a long race. It’s not won or last at the first corner.”

Asked about his confidence of winning he said: “Good. Yep. I also have two hard tyres. Nobody else has them around me, so that could be an advantage.”

Ferrari certainly caused a surprise on Saturday and victory for them on Sunday would be a shock going by Verstappen’s calm manner.

When to watch the Mexico City GP live only on Sky Sports F1

Sunday
6.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday Mexico City GP build-up (also on Sky Sports Main Event)
8pm: The MEXICO CITY GRAND PRIX (also on Sky Sports Main Event)
10pm: Chequered Flag: Mexico City GP

F1 is in Mexico for the middle leg of the Americas triple header. Watch the Mexico City Grand Prix live on Sky Sports F1, with Sunday’s race at 8pm. Stream F1 on Sky Sports with NOW

Max Verstappen topped both practice sessions for Red Bull on Friday; Lando Norris second as Lewis Hamilton off the pace in seventh; watch Practice Three live on Sky Sports F1 at 6.30pm on Saturday, followed by qualifying at 10pm

Max Verstappen completed a Friday practice double at the Mexico City Grand Prix as Lando Norris emerged as the world champion’s most likely pole challenger.

Verstappen, who is seeking a record 16th victory of the season, gave Red Bull a perfect start to the weekend by setting a 1:18.686 to top McLaren’s Lando Norris by just over a tenth of a second.

Charles Leclerc took third for Ferrari, while Verstappen’s Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez, urged on by the hugely supportive crowd at his home race, was fourth.

Either side of him there were surprise successes, with Valtteri Bottas fourth for Alfa Romeo and Daniel Ricciardo sixth for AlphaTauri.

Having finished 11th in first practice, Lewis Hamilton was once more unable to fulfil his hope of being able to challenge Red Bull as the seven-time world champion was seventh.

His Mercedes team-mate George Russell was only 10th, having earlier been one of five drivers to sit out first practice as teams took the opportunity to fulfil their obligated young driver sessions.

While Mercedes may be disappointed not to have shown more speed following their upgrades last weekend in Austin, the uniquely high altitude of Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez means there are likely to be significant overnight adjustments which could alter the pecking order.

Also out of position was Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, who was only 11th having also missed the opening session.

Further back, Aston Martin endured a torrid day as Lance Stroll finished 18th and Fernando Alonso 20th, with the Spaniard spinning off as he struggled in a car that has regressed since appearing to be Red Bull’s biggest rival during the first half of the season.

More to follow…

When to watch the Mexico City GP live only on Sky Sports F1

Friday
8:45pm: The F1 Show
10:45pm: Mexico City GP Practice Two (also on Sky Sports Main Event)

Saturday
6.15pm: Mexico City GP Practice Three
9pm: Mexico City GP Qualifying build-up (also on Sky Sports Main Event)
10pm: Mexico City GP Qualifying (also on Sky Sports Main Event)

Sunday
6.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday Mexico City GP build-up (also on Sky Sports Main Event)
8pm: The MEXICO CITY GRAND PRIX (also on Sky Sports Main Event)
10pm: Chequered Flag: Mexico City GP

F1 is in Mexico for the middle leg of the Americas triple header. Watch the whole Mexico City Grand Prix weekend live on Sky Sports F1 from Friday, with Sunday’s race at 8pm. Stream F1 on Sky Sports with NOW

Max Verstappen and Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez say there is no “rivalry” between them; watch the Mexico City GP live this weekend on Sky Sports F1, with practice up first from 7.30pm on Friday. Sunday’s race is at 8pm

Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez have dismissed suggestions of a rivalry between them as false, amid concerns over the world champion facing a hostile atmosphere at his Red Bull team-mate’s home race in Mexico this weekend.

Verstappen faced some booing after winning last year’s race in Mexico and was once more on the end of apparent hostility after triumphing in last weekend’s United States Grand Prix, with some suggesting Perez fans were responsible.

The organisers of the Mexico City Grand Prix earlier in October launched a ‘Racepect’ campaign promoting tolerance and respect for all drivers, which was accompanied by a statement saying that “insults and unpleasant behaviour cannot go unnoticed, nor be allowed to continue”.

Asked by Sky Sports F1 whether he feared unsavoury scenes this weekend, Perez said: “Not at all and I think it’s important that we give this message [of respect] because media likes to create these sort of rivalries outside the track.

“We are a great sport and we are a great example of a lot of young generations and we should just be focused on the sports side.

“Whatever happens on track should always stay there and that’s the best message we as a country want to give to the rest of the world.

“There is nothing else going on, the most important (thing) is everything stays on track.”

The relationship between the team-mates came under major scrutiny at last November’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix when furious messages were exchanged over radio after Verstappen refused an instruction to allow Perez past him on the final lap.

Since that flashpoint there has been little public friction between the pair, with Verstappen’s dominance while cruising to his third successive drivers’ title diffusing any potential tension.

Asked about a rivalry between the pair, Verstappen said: “That’s made up.

“Checo and I, we get on really well. For us, I don’t think there is any rivalry.

“Of course, as a driver on track you always try to be first or faster, but we have a lot of respect for each other and we appreciate each other’s performances.”

When to watch the Mexico City GP live only on Sky Sports F1

Friday 27 October
7pm: Mexico City GP Practice One
8:45pm: The F1 Show
10:45pm: Mexico City GP Practice Two (also on Sky Sports Main Event)

Saturday 28 October
6.15pm: Mexico City GP Practice Three
9pm: Mexico City GP Qualifying build-up (also on Sky Sports Main Event)
10pm: Mexico City GP Qualifying (also on Sky Sports Main Event)

Sunday 29 October
6.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday Mexico City GP build-up (also on Sky Sports Main Event)
8pm: The MEXICO CITY GRAND PRIX (also on Sky Sports Main Event)
10pm: Chequered Flag: Mexico City GP

F1 is in Mexico for the middle leg of the Americas triple header. Watch the whole Mexico City Grand Prix weekend live on Sky Sports F1 from Friday, with Sunday’s race at 8pm. Stream F1 on Sky Sports with NOW