Valtteri Bottas set the fastest time during the first free practice. The Finn drove a time of 1:18:341, putting him ahead of his teammate Lewis Hamilton. Max Verstappen finished third, while Sergio Perez set the fourth fastest time.

The drivers had been on the track for less than fifteen minutes when Charles Leclerc entered the corner backwards. The Monegasque was unable to correct his car and drove the rear of the car into the wall. The Ferrari driver sustained little damage, but Sergio Perez did. The Mexican crashed into the wall in exactly the same spot as Leclerc, forcing him to come in for a period of time.

Meanwhile Verstappen and Hamilton showed what they had come for: to be up front. The Briton set the fastest time, but was on a softer compound than Verstappen at the time. After more than half an hour Verstappen was still on top with a time of 1:18:464. He was more than five tenths faster than Hamilton, while Valtteri Bottas was in between the two times.

Final phase of VT1

In the final twenty minutes of the race, Bottas and Hamilton managed to drop below Verstappen's time, with Mercedes showing Red Bull that it can also compete with the Austrians in Mexico. Verstappen was unable to turn this around.

Perez, Pierre Gasly, Carlos Sainz, Leclerc, Fernando Alonso, Esteban Ocon and Sebastian Vettel completed the top ten. Just before the race AlphaTauri announced that Yuki Tsunoda will start from the back of the grid on Sunday night due to an engine change.