Mexican Grand Prix Practice: Red-Hot Red Bulls Lead the Way

As one of the hottest tracks on the calendar with the race being held at the highest altitude, Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez poses a tremendous setup challenge for every team, and Red Bull is so far coping the best. Max Verstappen posted the fastest times in both morning and afternoon sessions, his teammate Daniel Ricciardo was right behind with less than two-tenths in the latter session, but just over two-tenths when comparing the pair's best times.

The 2018 season's typical frontrunners Mercedes and Ferrari struggled in the extreme conditions, the former's drivers doing no better than fifth and sixth in the morning, and the latter fourth and eighth in the afternoon. Championship leader Lewis Hamilton appears to be on track to lock down his fifth world title this Sunday (for a second time in Mexico in two years), despite a rough start to the race weekend.

A dark horse contender in practice has been Renault Sport F1, which normally hovers around the mid- to upper-midfield finishing positions, but its drivers Carlos Sainz Jr. and Nico Hülkenberg were third- and fifth-fastest respectively in practice Friday. Whether they can maintain this form in qualifying Saturday or the Grand Prix itself has yet to be seen.

Another surprise comes in the form of Brendon Hartley. Not only did the Kiwi improve his times by a larger margin than any other driver between sessions, his times plop him sixth in the practice charts, almost a second up on his Red Bull-bound teammate Pierre Gasly.

Homeland hero Sergio Perez of Force India founders in tenth, the gatekeeper of points-scoring positions. Scarcely more than two-tenths separate him from possible podium contender Sainz Jr., which should set up one of the hardest-fought midfield battles of the season for the rest of the weekend.

A full index of each driver's best times can be found below.