Hamilton and Bottas 'to work as a team' off the line in Mexico

Lewis Hamilton says he'll work together with Valtteri Bottas at the start of Sunday's Mexico City Grand Prix to try and fend off any attacks by their Red Bull rivals on the long run down to Turn 1.

The Mercedes pair unexpectedly outperformed Red Bull and locked out the front row in qualifying, with Bottas achieving pole.

But the long stretch down to the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez's Turn 1 provides ample opportunity for slipstreaming, and Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez hope to make the most of the frantic mad dash to gain an upper hand over their adversaries.

The straight line run down to the first corner, the longest of any F1 track, isn't unlike Sochi, with similar tactics likely to be in play according to Hamilton.

However, Mexico City's rarefied air could somewhat mitigate the slipstream effect.

"It’s a little bit different," said the seven-time world champion. "It’s obviously probably almost as long, if not, yeah, I don’t know exactly...

"It feels exactly the same sort of length but obviously in Russia there’s a lot more drag and a lot more tow effect.

"Here there’s less but still there is a tow effect and so you know, Valtteri and I will no doubt work as a team to try and hold 1-2 for the team."

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In the Red Bull camp, team boss Christian Horner is hoping for an opening lap free of any drama, unlike in 2019 when Verstappen suffered a puncture following a contact with Bottas in the track's stadium section.

"We don't want an action replay [of 2019]," said Horner. "Max started third, Lewis got very aggressive into Turn 2, and then a puncture screwed the rest of the race.

"You have got to be there at the finish. We still think we have got a great chance in this race, but it's certainly harder than it was looking perhaps earlier on Saturday."

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