Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg was fastest ahead of the two Red Bulls and team-mate Lewis Hamilton in second practice at the Mexican Grand Prix.
Rosberg, five days on from the disappointment of seeing Hamilton clinch the title in the US on Sunday, was 0.430 seconds quicker than the new champion.
They were split by the surprisingly quick Red Bulls of Daniil Kvyat and Daniel Ricciardo, 0.245secs and 0.337secs off Rosberg.
Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen were fifth and sixth.
Williams’s Valtteri Bottas was seventh ahead of Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button, an encouraging eighth and ninth for McLaren-Honda.
Button initially had a difficult time, a recurring electrical problem with the upgraded Honda engine in his car keeping him in the pits until halfway through the second session.
But he made up for lost time and managed a lap just 0.116secs off Alonso with 10 minutes of running remaining, just before spitting rain began to come down harder and ended useful running.
Both men will start from the back as a result of grid penalties for using more than the permitted number of engines.
It was an eventful afternoon at the low-grip Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez from the off.
Toro Rosso’s Max Verstappen crashed right at the start of the session, losing control out of the penultimate corner and smashing into the barriers at the last one, tearing the left front corner off the car.
It was a bitter blow for the 18-year-old Dutchman, who had impressed in the first session by setting the fastest time, albeit after cutting a piece of track through the Esses in the middle of the circuit.
Bottas also had a spectacular off, losing the car while braking from more than 200mph for the first corner and fortunate to get away with only a damaged front wing.
The first day’s F1 action in Mexico for 23 years was generally speaking a success, with grandstands around the ‘stadium’ section towards the end of the lap packed with fans cheering local hero Sergio Perez, of Force India.
