Max Verstappen completed a practice double for Sunday’s Mexican Grand Prix by edging out Lando Norris. After leading the way in the first running at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City, Verstappen – who has won 15 of the 18 rounds so far – set the fastest time in the day’s concluding running. The Red Bull driver finished 0.119 seconds clear of McLaren’s Norris, with Charles Leclerc a quarter of a second back in his Ferrari. Home favourite Sergio Perez finished fifth, three tenths behind Red Bull team-mate Verstappen, while Lewis Hamilton took seventh for Mercedes, a third of a second down. Verstappen has dominated this year, and wrapped up his third successive world championship in Qatar earlier this month. And the Dutchman will head into the remainder of the weekend in the breathless Mexico City air as the man to beat. The high-altitude venue, which sits 2,200 metres above sea level, can often throw up anomalies, and Valtteri Bottas was a surprised fourth for Alfa Romeo, with Daniel Ricciardo sixth in his AlphaTauri, just three tenths off the top. Hamilton finished a close second to Verstappen in the United States a week ago before he was disqualified for running an illegal floor on his Mercedes. But despite his post-race exclusion, Hamilton hoped his speed in Austin would enable him to challenge Verstappen here. However, the seven-time world champion failed to challenge the top of the leaderboard on Friday, finishing 11th and seventh respectively in the two sessions. George Russell, who sat out the opening running as Mercedes blooded academy driver Frederik Vesti, finished 10th, half-a-second behind Verstappen. Earlier on Friday, Ollie Bearman made history by becoming the youngest British driver to take part in a Formula One weekend. Bearman, 18, competing for American outfit Haas, ended his F1 debut in 15th, only 1.6 sec slower than Verstappen and three tenths adrift of Nico Hulkenberg – a veteran of 200 grands prix – in the other Haas. Bearman also finished one place ahead of double world champion Fernando Alonso. F1 teams must run a rookie driver at least twice during the season and Chelmsford-born Bearman was handed his chance to impress, breaking the British record previously held by Norris. Norris was three months shy of his 19th birthday when he took part in practice for McLaren in Belgium in 2018 before he was promoted to a race seat the following season. Bearman turned 18 in May. The teenager, a member of the Ferrari academy, has taken four victories in F1’s feeder series Formula Two and is sixth in the standings ahead of next month’s season finale in Abu Dhabi.

Summer temps are soaring, which means this might be prime time for you to stay

The snake-bitten Las Vegas Grand Prix descended into further farce in the early hours of Friday morning as fans were sent home just an hour before the much-delayed second free practice session got underway. F1’s return to Vegas could hardly have been more disastrous as the first practice session was abandoned due to a loose drain cover. FP1 had only been going for eight minutes when Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari rolled to a stop on the ‘Sin City’ strip, having suffered substantial floor damage. LIVE! Follow the ongoing farce at the Las Vegas Grand Prix with our blog Driving at speeds of over 200mph, Sainz went over the loose drain cover before veering to the side and stopping the car after the impact, leaving Ferrari furious at the damage caused. To add salt to the wound, the Spaniard was then issued a 10-place grid penalty for making changes to his car following the loose drain incident. The issue caused huge delays to the schedule as frantic work ensued to ensure the track was safe, with FP2 – which was originally supposed to get underway at 12am local time (8am GMT) – delayed until 2am (10am GMT) and then pushed back a further 30 minutes. Yet it was only at 1.30am in Vegas that an announcement finally came over the tannoy, officially sending fans home from the venue due to “logistical considerations”, meaning FP2 resumed with the backdrop of eerily empty stands. Regarding the initial drain cover issue, F1’s governing body the FIA stated: “Following inspection, it was the concrete frame around a manhole cover that has failed. We now need to check all of the other manhole covers which will take some time. “We will be discussing with the local circuit engineering team about the length of time it will take to resolve and will update with any resultant changes to the schedule.” FP2 was extended to 90 minutes to allow teams more track time but the variety of issues seemed to only confirm the viewpoint of reigning world champion Max Verstappen, who launched a scathing rebuke of the event earlier this week – calling it “99 per cent show, 1 per cent sporting event” and “you just look like a clown” after being introduced to the crowd at a lavish opening ceremony on Wednesday. Read More Carlos Sainz handed ‘ridiculous’ penalty after drain cover crash at Las Vegas GP Jacques Villeneuve becomes first F1 driver to get married in paddock at Las Vegas GP Five times a manhole cover stopped F1 in its tracks

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