Nico Rosberg emerged quickest in an eventful Friday practice as Formula 1 made its return to Mexico.

The Mercedes driver posted a 1:21.531s effort on a soft tyre run in the afternoon session at the Hermanos Rodriguez circuit to sit atop of the times.

Rosberg ended the session marginally quicker than the Red Bulls of Daniil Kvyat and Daniel Ricciardo who showed encouraging pace at the newly configured venue.

Kvyat was just 0.2s adrift of Rosberg while Ricciardo was tenth further back in third.

The duo were both quicker than newly crowned world champion Lewis Hamilton, who was fourth, as he struggled to find clear air to challenge his Mercedes team-mate.

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen completed the top six.

The newly laid track surface proved a challenge for the drivers as they experienced a distinct lack of grip.

After topping opening practice, Max Verstappen’s day came to a premature end when he slid into the barriers at Turn 16 bringing out the red flags just five minutes into practice 2.

Incidents continued when the action resumed with Valtteri Bottas, Carlos Sainz, Pastor Maldonado and Sergio Perez all suffering spins at Turn 1.

Bottas was lucky to escape his moment with just a broken front wing on his Williams.

The session was interrupted for a second time when the Lotus of Romain Grosjean came to a halt on the circuit with a clutch issue.

Despite incurring damage after his moment at Turn 1, Bottas logged a time good enough for seventh ahead of Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button, who showed glimpses of pace in the McLarens.

Button spent half of afternoon session in the garage with a mechanical issue after undergoing his second power unit change of the weekend. The Brit will incur a 50 place grid penalty.

The Williams of Felipe Massa just edged Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg to round out the top 10, while local hero Perez ended up in 15th spot.

Result: Formula 1 Mexican Grand Prix Practice 2

Result: Formula 1 Mexican Grand Prix Practice 1