Hamilton to be investigated over Mexican GP FP1 track limits

In the early stages of first practice at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, Hamilton went straight on while braking at Turn 1, causing him to run across the grass before rejoining the circuit on entry to Turn 3.

Hamilton said on the radio that "couldn't slow down there" as a number of drivers struggled in the dusty conditions early in the session.

But when rejoining the track, Hamilton failed to stick to the left-hand side of the orange bollard at Turn 3, as instructed by race director Michael Masi in his pre-event notes.

It means that the seven-time world champion will face an investigation from the stewards in Mexico, as confirmed via race control 18 minutes into the session.

It is unlikely that it would result in any major penalty for Hamilton, with a reprimand for not following the race director's instruction the most likely outcome. The stewards are likely to hold a hearing between FP1 and FP2.

The stewards also announced during the session via race control that Kimi Raikkonen will be investigated after FP1 over an incident at Turn 1.

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes

Photo by: Charles Coates / Motorsport Images

Hamilton enters this weekend's Mexico City Grand Prix looking to strike back against title rival Max Verstappen and cut into the 12-point gap at the top of the drivers' standings.

Verstappen beat Hamilton to a narrow victory at the last race in the United States to extend his lead, and now comes to a track where Red Bull is expected to be strong.

Verstappen is a two-time winner at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez - in 2017 and 2018 - and initially took pole in 2019 before a penalty dropped him back.

Hamilton won the most recent edition of the race in 2019, but tipped his opposition to be hard to beat this weekend as the high altitude plays to the high downforce strengths of the RB16B car.

"They're going to be rapid this weekend," Hamilton said of Red Bull.

"Last [time] I think they were almost half a second ahead of us. Our car is not better than [that] year's car, I would say with those changes.

"It'll be interesting to see how we fare with them this weekend."