Ferrari’s may be unbeatable in Mexico as Hamilton goes after his sixth world title.
MEXICO CITY, Mexico—October 25th—While Lewis Hamilton set the standard in the opening practice for Sunday’s Mexican Grand Prix, his rival, Sebastian Vettel, recorded an even faster time of 1:16:607 in the afternoon. That makes the German a threat for Saturday qualifying–on a day where Mercedes normally excels.
The Silver Arrows found themselves off the pace in practice two, though, managing only fourth with Valtteri Bottas and Hamilton at fifth.
Max Verstappen, who couldn’t get going two weeks ago in Japan, found his form on Friday. Vettel’s Ferrari’s teammate, Charles Leclerc, did, too. Verstappen placed second and Leclerc third.
But despite his excellent performance on Friday afternoon, Verstappen isn’t sure he can match the Ferrari’s. “I don’t think in qualifying we can fight with them [Ferrari]. They are just too quick.” Verstappen said. “The rest is all pretty much in the same speed range, but they are just miles ahead.”
While Verstappen was up near the front, his Red Bull teammate, Alex Albon, had a hard time.
Albon lost control of his car and slid into the wall. It happened in the second session as he was attempting to overtake Bottas at the entrance to the Esses complex.
Toro Rosso had a fine afternoon, though, placing Dani Kvyat and Pierre Gasly in sixth and seventh places, respectively. Carlos Sainz Jr. continued to improve in his McLaren, finishing in eighth place. Nico Hulkenberg led the best of the Renaults in ninth, while Lando Norris gave the McLaren team two cars in the top ten by timing in at tenth.
The big news–historic news–is that Hamilton has a chance of clinching his sixth world title this weekend. If he does, then he’ll be just one championship shy of Michael Schumacher’s record.
