Latvala's pace stuns Hirvonen

New signing Latvala was expected to back Hirvonen's title challenge this season. But the younger Finn took his first victory in Sweden last month and currently holds a 9.6-second lead over Sebastien Loeb in Mexico.

Hirvonen, who still leads the championship thanks to his second places in Monte Carlo and Sweden, lost time running first on the road in Mexico and was then delayed by a puncture, dropping to fifth position.

But he conceded that Latvala was faster than him at present.

"It's annoying when your young team-mate is beating you, and it wasn't the car or my road position that was the reason why Jari-Matti is so far ahead of me," said Hirvonen at the end of day one.

"He's driven very well. The time gap between myself and Loeb is what I expected but the difference to Jari-Matti is far more than I thought.

"I need to find more speed tomorrow."

Latvala said he had not expected to be so fast in Mexico.

"It's a big surprise for me to lead because my pre-event target was to look for a podium," he said. "It's more than I expected or dreamed about. I kept a good pace all day and the whole package has worked well - car, driver, co-driver and tyres.

"It will be interesting to be first in the start order tomorrow on the gravely roads, but I was second today and there's not such a big difference. I don't want to think about it too much, I just want to get into the car and see what happens.

"The plan is to drive in the same way as I did on the slippery roads this morning. The stages are tricky so I need to find the same relaxed feeling."