Max Verstappen: The track is covered in ice

The Red Bull Racing drivers finished 5th and 6th in protocol after Friday’s practice at the Mexican circuit, but both admitted it was not easy to fly as the tarmac was too dusty and did not provide good grip.

Sergio Perez (5th): “It was a difficult day, but this is usual for the Mexican stage, also because of the high altitude of the circuit above sea level. It is very easy to make mistakes because the cars slide a lot on the track.

It is clear that the second session was mainly devoted to Pirelli tire testing, but in the course of the first session we have laid a good foundation – it seems that we are fast enough. But Ferrari and Mercedes also look quite confident, so the battle in Saturday’s qualifying promises to be intense.

However, I got into the rhythm really quickly, started to show a good pace and I hope we won’t have any special problems on Saturday. Although, of course, as always, the situation can change.

Max Verstappen (6th): “During the first practice I had a dangerous moment: when I pushed off the race track, the track turned out to be covered with ice. The car slid first to the left, then to the right, and at some point I decided to just hit the brakes so as not to crash into the wall.

There were no particular issues warming up the Soft tires, but we only had one set of laps on it. In the second session it was necessary to handle Pirelli’s tire tests again, which made the situation somewhat complicated for everyone, but this was also the case last week. Because of this we didn’t fully understand the situation, but I can say that it is more difficult to work with harder tires.

Overall, we still have very little information about the car’s behavior, but all the settings we’ve been able to test have turned out to be quite effective.”