Valtteri Bottas led Lewis Hamilton in a Mercedes one-two ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in first practice at the Mexico City Grand Prix.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Verstappen’s team-mate Sergio Perez both crashed at the final corner and damaged their rear wings.
Bottas led Hamilton by 0.076 seconds. Verstappen was 0.123secs off the Finn.
The Dutchman leads Hamilton by 12 points in the title race, with five grands prix remaining.
Verstappen is a strong favourite for victory on a track on which Red Bull have tended to excel in recent years.
There was no race in Mexico last year as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, and it is only the second long-haul race to be staged since the start of Covid, after the US Grand Prix in Austin, Texas, two weeks ago.
The session was characterised by a lack of grip because of the dusty track, with plumes of dust being thrown up by the cars in the early laps before the track began to clean up.
Perez recovered from his spin to move up to fourth fastest at the end of the session, while Leclerc ended up eighth, behind Alpha Tauri’s Pierre Gasly, the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz and Alpine’s Fernando Alonso.
Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel completed the top 10.
Hamilton and Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikkonen were investigated by stewards after the session for failing to rejoin the track according to the rules after going off at the first corner. Both received just a reprimand.
McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris were down in 14th and 15th places, while George Russell was 17th for Williams.
Both Alpha Tauri’s Yuki Tsunoda and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll will start from the back of the grid on Sunday as a result of penalties for using too many engine parts after both took new engines.
