The Friday in F1 Mexico GP was a busy one with multiple red flag stoppages along with Pirelli tyre testing but the Top 3 teams remained as they were.
It was a busy Friday in F1 Mexico GP where teams continued with the Pirelli tyre testing in FP2 which did not give a clear picture of where everybody stands in the pecking order. Ferrari, however, looked to be in a good space along with Red Bull and Mercedes.
The trio of them had similar pace but sure are hiding some of it. Mercedes were particularly pleased where even just running in FP2, George Russell termed it as one of the best Fridays he has had while Lewis Hamilton was equally pleased with the car.
On Ferrari’s side, Carlos Sainz had a clean and smoother run when compared to Charles Leclerc who faced a puncture in FP1 and then had a crash in FP2 where he accepted his mistake. They don’t expect a penalty for either power unit element or gearbox change.
As for Red Bull, Sergio Perez felt good and was quicker against Max Verstappen but only by just. The Dutchman felt lack of grip in both the sessions as he was seen slipping and sliding, but he hopes it will get better for qualifying and the race.
Leclerc: “To be honest, the feeling is good. We’ve been pretty unlucky in FP1; on my side I had a puncture on the out-lap, so not many laps, but the few that I’ve done I was happy with the car. In FP2, it was the same on the short runs, then I lost the rear at the start of the high-fuel run, so I had a limited amount of laps, but that was my mistake – I’m confident it won’t hurt our weekend. We tried something on my car which I didn’t particularly like, so I wasn’t as much at ease with the car than I was in FP1, but I know what to do for tomorrow, so I’m confident that the performance will be there. I don’t think any of it will compromise us. I think we have enough parts now with all the penalties we’ve had in the past, so it should be fine.”
Verstappen: “Yeah, just had a moment: as soon as I came a bit off line it was like ice, so I was just drifting left, drifting right, and at one point when it goes, you just have to hold the brakes and it just hits the wall. I mean on the soft compound everything was alright, but we only had one run on them, and then in FP2 we had to do the tyre testing again. That makes it a little bit more difficult and a bit more unknown again like last weekend, for everyone, but the harder compounds are a bit more tricky.”
Russell: “I’d like to think it’s definitely a podium that’s possible, at least. It’s probably one of, if not our best Friday of the year. Between the two of us, we’ve got 14 podiums so far this season, so that’s absolutely what we’ll be going for. But not having the normal FP2 running, where you get to understand the long run, the consecutive laps of your rivals, it’s going to be difficult to know. We can soon get into a lot of trouble if the temperature is a bit hotter or a bit cooler, and we find ourselves having to manage everything on Sunday. It’s not going to be a straightforward Saturday and Sunday, for sure.”
The pack behind was spread out mostly but Alpine, Alfa Romeo and AlphaTauri seemed to be in the thick of things while McLaren seemingly outside the Top 10 for now. The former had a smooth run with all the three drivers baring the early end due to engine trouble.
In terms of pace, they seem to be inside the top half along with Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas who had a much cleaner session than teammate Zhou Guanyu. Over at AlphaTauri, it was similar case with regards to Pierre Gasly inside the Top 10.
Teammate Yuki Tsunoda felt fine in FP2 too. But McLaren were a bit down where Daniel Ricciardo had brake issues in FP1, while Lando Norris felt lack of pace across sessions. It was quiet run for Williams, Aston Martin and Haas though.
Norris: “It wasn’t a bad day. We made some progress on the car but we’re still not where we need to be with the pace. The track has a very low downforce and is a slippery surface, but I’m feeling more confident with it after today’s sessions. Overall, we learnt a lot, but we’ll keep working hard overnight as a team to get ready for qualifying tomorrow.”
Gasly: “It’s been a great day. In FP1, I felt good in the car, we know it’s quite a unique track as it’s at such high altitude, but usually this works quite well for us. This morning straight away I was on the pace, we know it’s super tight in the midfield so I hope tomorrow, when we put it altogether, we can fight for the top 10. This afternoon we can’t make many conclusions, as we don’t know the compounds we’ve been running, but generally I felt quite good in the car, which is the most important thing. It feels great to be racing back in Mexico, both at the track and away from it it’s absolutely hectic, but it’s fun to be back here and feel the passion of the fans.”
Vettel: “The fans seem to get a little crazier each year – but it is such a fantastic atmosphere here. Today went pretty smoothly: we could not test anything in the afternoon tyre test, which was a bit of a shame, but hopefully we were able to give some useful information to Pirelli. It is difficult to say where we are at the moment – it looks like we are in our usual positions for a Friday, but I hope we can find something in the set-up and take a step forward for qualifying tomorrow.”
Guanyu: “Today hasn’t been the easiest day, in fact it has been quite messy out there for me. During FP1 my gear got stuck while I was practicing starts in the pitlane; at first we were okay in FP2, but then we had quite a few small issues in the long run, and eventually at the end of the session I had to stop the car on track because of a hydraulic issue. As a positive, I got to learn the track and our car felt quite strong, so we should be ready for tomorrow and hopefully have a smooth and cleaner day. Upgrades have been working extremely well, especially on the one-lap performance, so I am confident we can have a strong qualifying. Our priority now is to get rid of the issues we experienced today, and then we are good to go.”
Much like the Austin F1 weekend, the Mexico GP’s Friday also had rookie runners with Logan Sargeant returning at Williams in place of Alexander Albon while Jack Doohan got his first chance with Alpine in place of Esteban Ocon.
Pietro Fittipaldi took over the Haas cockpit of Kevin Magnussen, while Liam Lawson was back at AlphaTauri replacing Yuki Tsunoda and Nyck de Vries got his final run with Mercedes in place of George Russell. Three drivers though did not have a good ending.
Doohan: “It was very cool. I just obviously have to say a huge thank you to Alpine and all the boys and girls there for giving me this opportunity. It’s something I’ll cherish forever and remember. Obviously we had a small issue after the first run that meant that we couldn’t continue, but I’m still very grateful for the laps I got and it was an amazing experience. Once I was in the car, there was obviously a little bit of emotion and feeling, but the lead up, I was quite content; I knew that this was happening for quite a while and it gave me plenty of time to prepare.
“So it wasn’t a shock to the system, and I was very happy before getting into the car, and being in the car. I think I did six fast laps on the hard tyre on the first run. From that start, obviously, it was very slippery out there and I was just gradually building up, running through what we had to run through and taking it, obviously, very easy as I didn’t want to put the car or anything at risk. I was happy with how it went. We seemed to be all on the same level with the team. It would have been good to get some more laps, but I’m still very happy to be on track and have this experience.”
De Vries: “It was indeed emotional and I’m very happy. We ended it well, I enjoyed the session, we had three great years together – actually it was four but the first year was a bit unofficial. But we had a good time together and I’m very grateful for all the opportunities the team has given me. I’ve learned a lot, I’ve built up personal relationships within the team and the relationship is still good. So I’m just grateful for that, and now I’m obviously looking forward to the next chapter in my career.”
Lawson: “It’s been great to be back on track with Scuderia AlphaTauri after my last shot out in Spa. This time we played a bit more with set-up changes, as the more I drive the car the more accurate feedback I can give. Due to the Pirelli test in FP2 we saved a set of tyres for that, so I only ran on one set, which I believe most the juniors did today. It’s a really interesting circuit. I’d been on the sim a lot obviously, but when I first drove it was quite eye opening, there’s very low grip and it’s extremely slippery, especially through some of the high-speed areas. Driving through the stadium though was crazy, the atmosphere is incredible, even when I had to stop the car there, they were all cheering. Sadly, we had to stop because we had a loss of pressure. However, I was able to complete most the session anyway, so it didn’t impact too much.”
Fittipaldi: “It was good to get back in the car – obviously it was only for a few of laps – but it was good to get the feeling of driving a Formula 1 car on a different track, which is an amazing circuit. I’m very happy for the opportunity and I felt very comfortable, very quickly in the car. We weren’t using DRS on the first run and we were running competitively, so I was really happy. Then again, going onto a new tire we were going to make a step but then unfortunately we had the issue. I was happy that I was able to get back into the rhythm quickly in the car and feel good and confident. It was a short FP1 but at least I got a run in, and in Abu Dhabi, I can come back into the car warmed up.”
Sargeant: “I was definitely a lot more comfortable coming into today. Everything slowed down a lot and it was easier to build a rhythm and learn the track. All in all, it was a good step forward and good progress from last weekend.”
Here’s how FP1 in F1 Mexico GP panned out
Here’s how FP2 in F1 Mexico GP panned out
