Hamilton: We focused on finding settings

On Friday, Mercedes worked with three drivers, with the young Frederic Vesti behind the wheel of George Russell’s car in the first practice…

Lewis Hamilton (7th): “Difficult day. The car was behaving completely differently than it did a week ago in Austin, and we need to figure out the reason. During long sets of laps there wasn’t enough speed and we concentrated on finding settings.

This circuit has its own characteristics, but in recent years we have achieved good results here. So far we are not yet at the level we expected, but we will continue working through the night to achieve more on Saturday. The car was fast in Austin and I’m sure we can get good speed out of it in Mexico City.”

George Russel (10th): “It’s nice to be behind the wheel again, but it wasn’t easy in the second practice. Due to a bit of rain at the end we were unable to complete a long series of laps. The results turned out to be tough, traffic got in the way, but we have to deal with it.

To qualify for the final you have to get more speed out of the car. We’ll work on it tonight.”

Frederik Vesty (19th in the first session): “This is a special weekend for me, a dream come true – I’m grateful to the team for the opportunity.

A lot of work has been done since I joined the youth program, I spent a lot of time preparing for this day in the simulator. All in all a good session, we gathered important information, including about the prototypes of the new C4 tires, their lifespan and wear on this track.

“I’ve never raced in Mexico City before, it’s a difficult circuit with little grip, so I learned a lot – and I’m looking forward to the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix where I’ll get behind the wheel again.”