Will Norris face grid penalty? Consultation with Mercedes first!

The first free practice did not go as desired for McLaren. Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris finished in respectively fourteenth and fifteenth place. Team owner Andreas Seidl knows there is work to be done, especially since the speed seems to be there at direct competitor Ferrari.

"We are always used to low grip and the track ramping up, but it was quite low grip. We have to see. We have seen so many times its so hard to predict," Seidl is quoted as saying by Sky Sports. According to the German, McLaren is used to having little grip in a first practice session, but the situation in Mexico is a lot more critical than at other tracks.

Because the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez is located at an altitude of almost 2,300 metres, the engines have to endure a lot more because of the thin air. Prior to the Mexican weekend there was talk that this would be to the advantage of the Honda engines. There is also a lot of work to be done on the configuration of the engine.

New engine Norris?

"With the height of the track is hard, Monaco downforce levels and with the cooling. There are many variables. We are here because we want to beat the competitors. So, we wake up in the morning with this clear objective that we want to be in this fight (for third) but we need to accept the reality that Ferrari has made a good step forward", said Seidl, who doesn't yet know if Norris will get a new engine. First we have to discuss with Mercedes what the best solution is.