Formula 1: Training Mexico GP: Verstappen well ahead of Hamilton

Mercedes can still keep up with the qualifying simulation in the first sector with a lot of full throttle. In the curvy sectors two and three, Hamilton then loses a quarter of a second on Verstappen, the Red Bull can generate significantly more downforce.

Valtteri Bottas is faster than Lewis Hamilton on Friday

“The car is okay, we didn’t have any major problems. But they are definitely still too fast for us at the moment,” said Hamilton after the practice session with a view to the competition. The Brit is not happy with the balance and changes the settings several times during training, especially on the front axle: “We have to improve our setup, but we lack downforce. That is also the reason for the half-second gap between us.”

This can also be seen in the long runs, where Red Bull’s second man Sergio Perez, who finished fourth in training, was the fastest on Friday. With average times in the range of 1: 20.7 minutes on medium tires, he is almost three tenths ahead of Verstappen and over half a second ahead of Bottas and Hamilton.

Local hero Sergio Perez shows with strong long runs

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner does not want to overestimate the apparently strong form of his team yet. “Mercedes still has something in its pocket, we haven’t seen its full potential yet,” believes the Briton and explains: “With the GPS data, we can see when they crank the engine and where not.” For Horner, the gap is therefore significantly smaller than on the timesheet: “There is less than a tenth between the cars and we will see that tomorrow.”

Sebastian Vettel finishes the second training session in ninth place in the top 10, but causes a laugh when he accidentally drives into the McLaren pit and not his Aston Martin mechanic. Compatriot Mick Schumacher also experienced a good session in the Haas in 16th place, leaving Lance Stroll as well as team-mate Nikita Mazepin and the two Williams of Nicholas Latifi and George Russell behind. The latter cannot drive at all with a gearbox defect, and Daniel Ricciardo from the other Mercedes customer team McLaren has similar problems.

1. Max Verstappen (Netherlands) – Red Bull 1: 17.301 min.
2. Valtteri Bottas (Finland) – Mercedes +0.424 sec.
3. Lewis Hamilton (UK) – Mercedes +0.509
4. Sergio Perez (Mexico) – Red Bull +0.570
5. Carlos Sainz Jr. (Spain) – Ferrari +1.017
6. Pierre Gasly (France) – Alpha Tauri +1.128
7. Charles Leclerc (Monaco) – Ferrari +1,304
8. Yuki Tsunoda (Japan) – Alpha Tauri +1,343
9. Sebastian Vettel (Heppenheim) – Aston Martin +1.380
10. Fernando Alonso (Spain) – Alpine +1.431
11. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) – Alfa Romeo +1,540
12. Lando Norris (UK) – McLaren +1.678
13. Antonio Giovinazzi (Italy) – Alfa Romeo +1.926
14. Esteban Ocon (France) – Alpine +2,130
15. Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) – McLaren +2,220
16. Mick Schumacher (Gland / Switzerland) – Haas +2,319
17. Lance Stroll (Canada) – Aston Martin +2,429
18. Nicholas Latifi (Canada) – Williams +3,519
19. Nikita Mazepin (Russia) – Haas +4,280
20. George Russell (Great Britain) – Williams – no time

Formula 1 will run at Sky in 2021. The station is setting up its own TV station for the new era: Sky Formula 1. Here there is motorsport 24 hours a day. All training sessions, all qualifying sessions, all races always live and without commercial breaks. Sky also broadcasts the Formula 2, Formula 3 and Porsche Supercup races. The program also includes historical races and special programs. You can find more information here