How Mexican GP qualifying unfolded

1. Rosberg on pole, Hamilton 2nd, Vettel 3rd
2. Kvyat 4th, Ricciardo 5th, Bottas 6th, Massa 7th
3. Hamilton top in Q2, Lotuses & Raikkonen out
4. Rosberg top in Q1, Manors, Nasr, Alonso & Button out
5. Hamilton accuses Rosberg of backing him up during practice

A trick or a treat?

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Well, that's all from us as Nico Rosberg enjoyed a happy Halloween by securing pole for tomorrow's Mexican Grand Prix.

Will Lewis Hamilton have a trick up his sleeve tomorrow, or will there be a long overdue treat for Nico Rosberg?

Join us at 17:30 GMT on Sunday to find out. See you then.

Ain't no party like a Perez party

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Mexico is set to go Checo crazy tomorrow, with Sergio Perez starting inside the top 10. Pedro Rodriguez holds the record for the highest finish by a Mexican at his home race - fourth in 1968. Could Perez beat that?

Either way, the atmosphere is sure to be amazing given how electric it has been for practice and qualifying.

It is just about time for us to wrap up for the night. Don't forget you can watch highlights of today's qualifying on BBC Two tonight at 22:45 GMT (23:15 in N Ireland; 23:45 in Scotland), as well as online.

Qualifying would have been little more than a bit of a run out for Jenson Button, with the Briton guaranteed to start from the back. He is set to be hit by around 50 grid place penalties.

Max to match Michael?

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Michael Schumacher finished third in the 1992 Mexican GP

Max Verstappen has the chance to match Michael Schumacher by scoring his maiden podium in Mexico, immediately after finishing fourth in the previous race.

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Lewis Hamilton won't be too concerned about starting from second on the grid, considering he hasn't done too badly from there in recent races.

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A bit of encouraging news for Nico Rosberg from the history books. 

The Mexican Grand Prix was won from the front row in five of the last six races. The exception was Alain Prost winning from 13th in 1990. 

Call me cynical, but I can't see Pastor Maldonado replicating that feat by winning from 13th tomorrow...

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An unwanted statistic for Nico Rosberg. What's going wrong for him on race day?

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'Mercedes too quick'

Formula 1

Sebastian Vettel, who qualified third: "In the end Mercedes were too quick, but who knows what will happen tomorrow. It's a fun track."

Room for improvement - Hamilton

Formula 1

Lewis Hamilton, who starts from second tomorrow: "There were a couple of moments when the car felt spectacular but there are a few places I could improve."   

Nico Rosberg, who starts tomorrow's race on pole: "It will be an exciting battle. It will be interesting tyre wise. There was some stuff going on on Friday which will not be easy to handle in the race. But we are looking forward to it."

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Qualifying result

11) Sainz 12) Grosjean 13) Maldonado 14) Ericsson 15) Raikkonen 16) Alonso 17) Nasr 18) Rossi 19) Stevens 

* Button did not take part in qualifying

Qualifying top 10

1) Rosberg 2) Hamilton 3) Vettel 4) Kvyat 5) Ricciardo 6) Bottas 7) Massa 8) Verstappen 9) Perez 10) Hulkenberg

Lewis Hamilton shakes Nico Rosberg's hand after the two climb out of their cars. That's Rosberg's fourth pole position in a row, he just needs to start converting them into race wins - he has only won two of the last 10 races he has started on pole.

Reuters

So, so close, with Nico Rosberg beating Lewis Hamilton by just 0.188s. Hamilton's hopes of securing pole were hit when he ran wide in the stadium section on his final lap.

Pole position

Nico Rosberg secures pole position for the Mexican Grand Prix.

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David Coulthard

BBC F1 co-commentator

“The momentum is with Rosberg. There is an impatience to go out and deliver”

A little improve from Lewis Hamilton, but it doesn't look like it will be enough to beat Nico Rosberg...

Nico Hulkenberg goes ninth fastest before Sergio Perez's first timed effort puts him 10th fastest. 

The focus is now on the battle for pole...

Jennie Gow

BBC Radio 5 live pit-lane reporter

"Lewis Hamilton hasn't had a pole position since Italy five races ago."

Daniel Ricciardo goes fifth before the Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg emerge from the pits for their final runs.

At the moment it is: 1) Rosberg 2) Hamilton 3) Vettel 4) Kvyat 5) Ricciardo 6) Bottas 7) Massa 8) Verstappen

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Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg are yet to run in this part of qualifying. All or nothing for the Force Indias.

EPA

More to come

Tom Clarkson

BBC F1 pit-lane reporter

"The wind is picking up which could play havoc with car set ups.”    

Lewis Hamilton improves with his next effort, but so does Nico Rosberg and once again it is the latter who has the advantage, in P1 with 1:19.480.

Meanwhile, Sebastian Vettel goes third fastest, 0.370s off Rosberg's time, with Felipe Massa fifth, Daniil Kvyat sixth, Max Verstappen seventh and Daniel Ricciardo eighth.

Reuters

A little lock-up for Lewis Hamilton towards the end of his lap and he crosses the line with 1:20.120.

Nico Rosberg comes round next and it is a very strong lap, a 1:19.690 putting him top of the pile for now.

Final qualifying starts

Lewis Hamilton is the first man out on the track as the final part of qualifying gets under way. It is a 12-minute shootout to determine the top 10.

Ben Edwards

BBC F1 commentator

“What an atmosphere we are getting. The cheering for Sergio Perez is tremendous.”    

And the good news for the home fans is that Sergio Perez is in the top 10 shootout.

It looks like Fernando Alonso has gone to soak up a bit of the atmosphere...

IN

1) Hamilton 2) Vettel 3) Rosberg 4) Bottas 5) Kvyat 6) Massa 7) Perez 8) Ricciardo 9) Verstappen 10) Hulkenberg

Ben Edwards

BBC F1 commentator

“Verstappen just managed to get in the top 10. That was a brilliant lap from the youngster.”

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OUT

11) Sainz 12) Grosjean 13) Maldonado 14) Ericsson 15) Raikkonen 

Max Verstappen saves himself at the last with a 1:20.894 to sneak into the top 10 shootout. 

Second qualifying ends

Lewis Hamilton finishes fastest in the second part of qualifying for the Mexican Grand Prix.

AP

That lap from Sebastian Vettel was stunning

Thirty seconds left and Max Verstappen, Felipe Massa, Pastor Maldonado and Marcus Ericsson are in need of improvements...

Ben Edwards

BBC F1 commentator

"It is 100 grands prix since Kimi Raikkonen was last on pole position and he won't get another one here.”

Now then. This could make things interesting. There's rain drops are falling on the circuit...

Meanwhile, Sebastian Vettel leaps up into P2 after a 1:20.045, splitting the Mercedes.

EPA

Scrap that about Kimi Raikkonen. He is out of his Ferrari and walking down the pit lane. His qualifying is over.

Kimi Raikkonen then pits, presumably to strap on some soft boots and get himself a time good enough to progress to Q3. 

The leading trio of Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg and Daniil Kvyat have also pitted. 

Five minutes remaining and in the elimination zone are:

11) Verstappen 12) Maldonado 13) Ericsson 14) Raikkonen 15) Vettel

David Coulthard

BBC F1 co-commentator

“Vettel heading out relatively late so is confident he can do a time to get into the top ten in Q2.”     

Sebastian Vettel, seven minutes into Q2, emerges onto the track for the first time in this session just as his Ferrari team-mate, on medium tyres, spins after losing his rear in braking.

Nico Rosberg crosses the line with a time two tenths of a second slower than his Mercedes team-mate, putting him second for now.

Max Verstappen sets the initial pace with 1:21.184 but the rest of the cars are coming round on their laps and Lewis Hamilton swiftly takes his place at the top of the pile with a 1:20.129. 

He improves with his next effort, becoming the first driver into the 1:19s this weekend as he posts a 1:19.829.

AFP

Tom Clarkson

BBC F1 pit-lane reporter

"Kimi Raikkonen is not going for a time, he is getting some race preparation in. We will have to wait until later in this session to see what he can do."

Everyone is out on the soft tyres except for Kimi Raikkonen, who has opted for the medium compound. Bit weird.

Second qualifying starts

Off we go. The second part of qualifying starts and the battle for a place in the top 10 is under way.

AP

Jenson Button has been speaking to BBC Radio 5 live's Jennie Gow about his absence from qualifying due to problems with his McLaren-Honda.

The Englishman was in typically level-headed form, saying: "It’s a system failure so we can’t run, we’ve got to change the engine and revert to another one for the race. 

"It’s been a very limited running weekend… so it’s a tough one but we can’t do much about it. Can’t complain, hopefully tomorrow will be a better day."

Big shame. McLaren had appeared to have shown some signs of promise for a good weekend in practice, but it is not to be as Fernando Alonso exits at the first stage. 

Both he and Jenson Button are starting at the back of the grid anyway because of various penalties.

IN

1) Rosberg 2) Vettel 3) Hamilton 4) Bottas 5) Kvyat 6) Sainz 7) Perez 8) Verstappen 9) Ricciardo 10) Ericsson

11) Hulkenberg 12) Massa 13) Raikkonen 14) Maldonado 15) Grosjean

OUT

16) Alonso 17) Nasr 18) Rossi 19) Stevens

* Button did not take part in qualifying

First qualifying ends

Nico Rosberg finishes fastest in the first part of qualifying for the Mexican Grand Prix.

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David Coulthard

BBC F1 co-commentator

“Hamilton has not gone out for an exploratory lap so must be comfortable where he is.”

Ben Edwards

BBC F1 commentator

“Mercedes are running 4km-an-hour less than even the Williams in the speed trap so they are running a lot more downforce.”    

A 1:20.436 from Nico Rosberg and he takes over from Sebastian Vettel at the top of the timesheet.

Meanwhile, Marcus Ericsson has climbed out of the dropzone with the 13th fastest time, putting Felipe Nasr into trouble.

Alonso in danger

Two minutes remaining and in a spot of bother at the moment are Fernando Alonso, Marcus Ericsson, Alexander Rossi and Will Stevens.

EPA

Mercedes bring in Nico Rosberg to make the switch to soft tyres as Sebastian Vettel goes fastest with 1:20.503.

Lewis Hamilton also pits, but is kept in for now.

Daniel Ricciardo is on soft tyres, unlike Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, and he goes third fastest with 1:21.247. Sebastian Vettel is also straight on the soft tyres.

Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg repeatedly trade places at the top of the order as Valtteri Bottas goes third fastest with 1:211.296. 

Ten minutes to go and 14 drivers have got at least one timed lap under their belts, still waiting for ones from the Ferraris, but the good news is that they have indeed managed to get Kimi Raikkonen out.

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David Coulthard

BBC F1 co-commentator

“Lewis Hamilton has been told to go for a three-lap run and then a cool-down lap.”    

Hello Mercedes, there you are. The Silver Arrows occupy first and second place after their first timed efforts, Lewis Hamilton currently fastest with 1:21.397, Nico Rosberg is 0.221s slower.

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Felipe Nasr sets the initial pace with a 1:23.400 but Valtteri Bottas swiftly improves on that with 1:22.622.

Meanwhile, there's an engine firing up in the Ferrari garage. It looks like Kimi Raikkonen could be getting out, despite an exhaust problem in final practice.

Tom Clarkson

BBC F1 pit-lane reporter

"As for cut off times it is really difficult to predict because conditions are changing all the time. Cars are out on medium tyres and still doing their homework. Based on what we know so far it looks like the cut off time will be 1:21.9."

First qualifying starts

Roars from the stands as the first part of qualifying gets under way. Out rumble the cars...

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Teams and drivers are going through their last-minute preparations. It is almost time for the first Mexican GP qualifying session in 23 years to get under way.

Security at Toro Rosso has been spectacularly lax. The guy from slasher flick Scream has been mucking around the paddock all day...

Sergio Perez strolls out of the Force India garage and is met immediately with a wall of noise from the fans in the stands opposite. He soaks it up, waving to the delighted locals. 

Meanwhile, the stadium section is packed. It divided opinion when I asked earlier for your thoughts but, with a fair few thousand people in it, it looks superb.

Looks like the champion is ready...

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Can Lewis Hamilton replicate the achievement of a fellow Brit in Mexico this weekend?

Jim Clark is the only driver to have completed a Formula 1 ‘Grand Slam’ of pole position, fastest lap, led every lap and victory on Mexican soil. 

He achieved the feat at the first race in the country back in 1963.

Meanwhile, in the red garage...

Button out of qualifying

Disappointing news for Jenson Button fans - the Englishman, already destined to start towards the back of the grid due to penalties, will not take part in qualifying. 

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It is cloudy in Mexico, but it looks like qualifying will be dry.

BBC weather's Ian Fergusson says: "@UBIMET noting cloudier skies have resulted in lower (30%) chance of shower development."

Crazy facts and interesting stats

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What links the above with the Mexican Grand Prix? 

Find out in our mighty fine collection of stats and facts here.

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How do you see qualifying playing out? Let us know via #bbcf1, text in on 81111 (UK only) and have your say on the BBC Sport Facebook page.

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Coming up

In case you are joining us for the first time today, here's a reminder of what is coming up and when.

Qualifying gets under way at 19:00 GMT, and you can listen to audio commentary on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra, as well as on this page.

Then, at 22:45 GMT (23:15 in N Ireland; 23:45 in Scotland), there will be qualifying highlights on BBC Two.

Mexican wave

Formula 1

The local crowd are loving Formula 1, and home favourite Sergio Perez is loving the local crowd. He slowed to wave to the fans in the baseball stadium section during final practice.

Perez was sixth fastest, just half a second off Nico Rosberg's benchmark time.

Tension building?

BBC

There was also a hint of tension between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg in final practice.

Hamilton complained Rosberg was "backing me up" as they prepared for their fastest runs.

David Coulthard suggested on Friday that the friendship between two has "spectacularly" broken down in their time together at Mercedes. 

You can watch what he has to say here.

Andrew Benson

Chief F1 writer

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"There has been a lot of talk this weekend about Nigel Mansell and his famous overtaking manoeuvre around the outside of the now-excised Peraltada on Gerhard Berger’s McLaren in 1990, and Mansell - who is in Mexico this weekend as an ambassador for the track - is clearly lapping it up. It was undoubtedly a brilliant move, one of the greatest, but what has been somewhat overlooked is that Mansell finished second in that race. 

“He was 25 seconds behind his Ferrari team-mate Alain Prost, who won remarkably from 13th place on the grid (Mansell started fourth). It was a less spectacular drive than Mansell’s, perhaps, but stunning in its own way. Undoubtedly one of Prost’s very best - and the Frenchman did, after all, win 51 in total, so there are quite a few to choose from. 

"Given the way the previously warm relationship between the two men cooled during that year, doubtless it is not something of which Mansell would enjoy being reminded.”

Hello! Welcome to our coverage of qualifying for the Mexican Grand Prix.

The world titles may have already been wrapped up, but that's no reason to give up on F1 for the remaining three races of the season. 

If practice is anything to go by, we could be in for one of the most open battles for pole so far this season.

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A hair raiser on Halloween?

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Mercedes may have led the way once again in final practice but the signs are that neither Nico Rosberg or Lewis Hamilton can afford for any margin of error.

There was just 0.2s between the top four in FP3, 0.9s between the top 12.

Add to that high altitude, a slippery surface and a circuit that no current driver has raced on before, and we could be in for a very thrilling hour of qualifying...

OK, we are going to take a very short break but will be back with build-up for qualifying at 18:00 GMT. In the meantime, I'll leave you with Andrew Benson's final practice report.

See you shortly.

For the home fans, who are continuing to stream into the stands, Sergio Perez was just half a second off Nico Rosberg's pace. 

BBC

A Mercedes one-two in final practice, but the exciting thing ahead of qualifying is that Nico Rosberg, Lewis Hamilton, Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel were separated by just two tenths of a second. Could be very close indeed.

FP3 result

1) Rosberg 2) Hamilton 3) Ricciardo 4) Vettel 5) Kvyat 6) Perez 7) Bottas 8) Sainz 9) Massa 10) Hulkenberg

11) Verstappen 12) Maldonado 13) Grosjean 14) Ericsson 15) Alonso 16) Nasr 17) Raikkonen 18) Stevens 19) Rossi 20) Button

Chequered flag

Nico Rosberg finishes fastest in final practice for the Mexican Grand Prix.

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Sergio Perez, currently sixth fastest, opts to indulge in a bit of crowd pleasing as he slows down through the stadium section, waving to the crowd as he weaves his way through.

Nico Rosberg is in the pits, so there will be no improvement from him.

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Better from Lewis Hamilton as he improves with a 1:21.150, half a second slower than Nico Rosberg. Just over two minutes remaining, so he has time for another lap.

As it stands Nico Rosberg leads from Hamilton, with Daniel Ricciardo (1:21.201) and Sebastian Vettel (1:21.294) third and fourth respectively. Not much between them.

Big lock-up for Lewis Hamilton coming into the first corner and he skips across the grass before rejoining. 

He's now dropped down to seventh fastest, having yet to show his real pace on the soft tyres. 

"Nico's backing up into me," he says over team radio.

"You've got plenty of space behind," is the response.

A polite way of saying get on with it...

Daniil Kvyat, fastest of all in the middle sector, splits the Mercedes to go second fastest with 1:21.530.

Nico Rosberg goes fastest with 1:21.205, Lewis Hamilton is yet to set his first lap time on the softer compound.

With 10 minutes to go, Lewis Hamilton has been in to make the switch to the soft tyre, as has his Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg. Let's see what they have got hiding in the bag.

Impressive Hamilton

Let me hear you say, 'Hey-oh'?

Mercedes aren't getting a group rendition of the Outhere Brothers going, they're just celebrating Lewis Hamilton topping the timesheets. Even more impressive is that he has done so on the medium tyres. The only driver to get close to his time, Sebastian Vettel, set his on the faster soft tyres. It looks like Mercedes are, once again, looking strong.

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It is relatively quiet on the circuit as everyone except for Lewis Hamilton and Marcus Ericsson head in to prepare for their qualifying sim runs. 

Jenson Button appears to have been battling some mechanical woes and has managed just four laps in this session. He is yet to post a representative time with his best effort so far, a 1:29.336, six seconds slower than Fernando Alonso's.

EPA

Twenty minutes remaining and Lewis Hamilton, still on the medium compound, jumps into P1 with 1:21.840. Impressive stuff.

He leads from Sebastian Vettel. Max Verstappen and Nico Rosberg, who is also on the medium compound tyre.

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Sebastian Vettel, by the way, set that time on the soft tyres, with the Ferrari man one of a number of drivers to make the switch to the faster compound. Max Verstappen, currently second fastest, and Fernando Alonso, ninth fastest, are two of the others to do so.

EPA

Yellow flag

All change at the top as Sebastian Vettel goes fastest of all with 1:21.871, putting him half a second clear of the rest. Max Verstappen then bumps Daniel Ricciardo down to a third. 

There's the briefest of flutters of the yellow flags as Daniil Kvyat spins 180 degrees. No drama though as he gets himself back up and running.

Lewis Hamilton gets held up by Alexander Rossi on the latter stages of his lap and he loses a bit of time, clocking 1:22.504. He would have gone fastest but for hitting that bit of traffic because his time is just 0.002s off Daniel Ricciardo's leading effort.

Lewis Hamilton's initial effort is just good enough for 17th fastest, but he was weaving on that lap to get temperature into his tyres. This next one should offer a more representative time.

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The camera picks out four people in the stands wearing t-shirts spelling out CHECO. One of them has the letters H and E on the one shirt, couldn't they find a fifth friend?

The only man left to set a timed lap is Lewis Hamilton, but he is coming round for one now.

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Daniel Ricciardo has left it quite late into the session to post his first timed lap but he does so now and goes fastest of all with 1:22.909, just 0.046s faster than his Red Bull team-mate Daniil Kvyat's effort.

Meanwhile, Valtteri Bottas reports that grip is better than yesterday but that "we're still sliding a bit".

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Multitasking to the max.

Reuters

Back to matters on the circuit and times keep on tumbling as Daniil Kvyat goes fastest, sticking a 1:23.029 on the board. 

Lewis Hamilton has yet to embark on his first timed effort, having spent the first 20 minutes doing some practice starts, but Nico Rosberg is up and running with 1:23.322, putting him into P2.

Team radio

Here's Kimi's radio exchange before he came to a stop: "I had some issue with the engine. I don't have the power. I had some vibration and there's some smoke. Do I stop or not?" 

"Switch off Kimi switch off."

Kimi Raikkonen brought his Ferrari to a stop at Turn 10, smoke coming from the rear. He climbs out before walking round to inspect the back of his car.

Yellow flag

Yellow flags just after Nico Hulkenberg goes fastest. Kimi Raikkonen is pulling off the circuit...

EPA

McLaren wasting no time

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Everyone is out on medium tyres bar Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas and Daniil Kvyat. Felipe Massa goes fastest now with 1:23.803, putting him ahead of Sergio Perez, Nico Hulkenberg and Fernando Alonso.

Perez, meanwhile, reports that grip levels are still low, an issue that troubles all the drivers throughout yesterday.

Reuters

Gone to his head...

AP

Modern F1 fans will be well aware of the drink-drive messages that adorn tracks nowadays.

They don't say anything about having a drink while watching people drive though, as this chap is all too well aware of. 

Beats a cup of Bovril.

The stands are not quite packed yet but those who are there are certainly noisy. A huge roar signals the arrival of Sergio Perez on the circuit.

Max Verstappen wastes no time in getting out on the circuit having missed almost all of second practice after an early crash. 

He is one of four drivers to complete early timed laps, going fastest with 1:26.218.

Andrew Benson

Chief F1 writer

“Even Red Bull expressed surprise that they ended up splitting the Mercedes in second practice, but while they are pleased to find the track was less tricky for them than expected, they don’t expect a repeat in qualifying. Daniel Ricciardo said on Friday: ‘Pretty much all the corners on the track suit us. It’s the one straight where we lose all our advantage, but all these sort of tight, twisty corners and the fast flowing Esses in the middle work to our advantage. We are a little bit more competitive today than we thought we would be, but we'll see what happens.’ 

“Thoughts of beating Mercedes in qualifying, he said, were ‘not realistic’, adding: ‘We can hope, but I think if we were to stay where we are, within a few tenths of Mercedes, we'd be really happy with that.’ That’s in the dry, though. If it rains, which it well might, the Red Bulls could be a real threat, as they proved in Austin last weekend.”

Will the Red Bulls pick up from where they left off yesterday? They split the Mercedes in final practice.

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Go! Go! Go!

And we are off. Will Stevens, Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel are straight out on the circuit. 

Despite the chanting of his name from the stands, Sergio Perez is opting to take the fashionably late approach to final practice as he sits waiting in his Force India.

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An impressive 89,000 fans were at the circuit for practice yesterday (more than 100,000 are expected for the race), and you can hear them already as they wait patiently for their first glimpse of the cars today. They haven't got long to wait, with one hour of final practice starting in about two minutes.

Sauber

A Mariachi band walking down the pitlane? Well, I suppose we are in Mexico after all.

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Mixed day for Max

Andrew Benson

Chief F1 writer

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“Max Verstappen had something of a mixed day on Friday, setting the pace in first practice - albeit with the aid of cutting a corner at the Esses - and then crashing on pretty much his first lap in the second session. Full of confidence, the Dutchman was happy to accept the blame. ‘Cold tyres and maybe not fully focused,’ he said. 'I was not even pushing, just warming up the tyres and then suddenly I just lost it.’

“Despite the loss of track time when the circuit was at its best, he did not sound too worried. ‘It should be OK for us,’ Verstappen said. ‘Of course we didn’t do any running, so hopefully in FP3 we’ll get some running on the soft tyre – but I think in general the car is not so bad. The track in general is quite slow, which is a bit of a shame. The grip level is very low, so it’s not that challenging yet. It’s not too bad. I quite like the stadium section, to see so many fans like that is cool.’”

Ham-oween

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It is Halloween today. Day of the Dead in Mexico. I tried to think of some witty pun to mark it but sadly I couldn't, so here's a picture of Lewis Hamilton holding a skull to compensate.

Coming up

Right then, here is how today looks:

16:00 GMT: Final practice (BBC Radio 5 live sports extra commentary online)

19:00 GMT: Qualifying (BBC Radio 5 live sports extra from 18:55 GMT)

22:45 GMT: Qualifying highlights (BBC Two and online)  

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What are your impressions of the circuit? Like it? Hate it? Is the stadium section working for you?

Let us know what you think via #bbcf1, text in on 81111 (UK only) or post a comment on the BBC Sport Facebook page.

'Like a go-kart track'

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Lewis Hamilton loved his first taste of the Mexican Grand Prix circuit, describing it as "challenging for everyone but fun".

The new world champion joined drivers in remarking on the lack of grip of Mexico City's track but praised the atmosphere created by thousands of fans.

"It's a bit like a go-kart track in the slow areas," he said.

'Like a ski station in Europe'

Andrew Benson

Chief F1 writer

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“One word dominated the drivers’ reactions to their first experience of the remodelled Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez on Friday - ‘slippery’. Often with a few amplifiers thrown in. Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel added the word ‘very’ five times, while Lewis Hamilton said it was ‘crazy how slippery it is’, adding: “Sliding, oversteering, drifting everywhere, it’s unbelievable.’

“The reason for this? A combination of a new track surface, which is leaking oils as was also a problem at Russia’s inaugural race last year, and the high altitude, which means the cars do not create as much downforce as normal. So cars set up to create as much downforce as possible, as at a slow track, are pushing 360km/h (223mph) down the straights. As Nico Rosberg put it: ‘It is so high up, it is like a ski station in Europe. The air is very thin and even down the straights there is no resistance, so we have the Monaco rear wing on the car but we’re doing Monza speeds.’”

Hello! Welcome to our coverage of final practice and qualifying for the Mexican Grand Prix.

Wheels of fire, an 18-year-old topping practice and plenty of slipping and sliding, first and second practice on a circuit new to the F1 drivers was nothing if not eventful. 

The day ended, though, with Nico Rosberg on top, and he will no doubt be hoping to be on fire once again today.

Mexican Slip 'N Slide

Thrills...

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...spills...

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...and surprises...

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...it was certainly an eventful first day in Mexico. More of the same today?