MEXICO CITY (AP) — Red Bull's Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo dominated Friday's practice ahead of the Mexican Grand Prix until a late hydraulic problem shut down Verstappen's car near the end of the second session.
Verstappen's trouble came at the turn out of the long straight at the Autodromo Hermanas Rodriguez in Mexico City. He drove the car safely into the grassy runoff area, avoiding the curbs and stopping short of the wall.
It was a worrying blemish on an otherwise impressive day for Red Bull. Verstappen is the defending race champion. He posted Friday's fastest laps in both sessions with his best at 1 minute, 16.720 seconds. Ricciardo was 0.153 seconds behind.
Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes can win his fifth career season championship if he finishes no worse than seventh on Sunday. Hamilton was seventh in Friday's second practice.
Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel must win if he hopes to push the championship to Brazil. He was fourth in practice.
