Opening the weekend as he doubtless means to continue, Lewis Hamilton set about the first part of his task of winning his fourth Formula One world championship with solid runs in both of the opening practice sessions for the Mexican Grand Prix. The British driver was happy with the progress his Mercedes team had made before Saturday qualifying.
He was in second place, four-tenths behind his Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas and three-tenths in front of his title rival Sebastian Vettel, who was fifth on the time sheets, during the first run on Friday morning. In the afternoon Hamilton was second again, recovering from a spin at turn 11 early in the session, and just over 0.1sec behind the Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo, with Vettel in fourth place.
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Hamilton will become the most successful British racing driver if he takes the title here at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez and he will do so with a finish of fifth or better in the race, regardless of Vettel’s position. The 32-year-old made it clear on Thursday that his intention was to seal the title with a win and he was pleased with the performance the team had managed so far.
“It’s been a good day today,” he said. “It didn’t really start out great, particularly in the second session with the big spin on my first lap, so I put myself on the back foot. But the single lap and then the long run on the ultrasoft tyre was probably one of the best I’ve ever done.
“I don’t think I’ve ever done 26 laps that consistent, apart from in the race maybe. We got lots of information.”
Hamilton won in Mexico last year, with a dominant and flawless run from pole to flag, in his bid to chase down the lead his then team-mate Nico Rosberg held in the world championship. This year it is Hamilton who has an advantage – 66 points over Vettel going into the final three races.
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He had set the track record in qualifying last year with 1:18.704, a time already beaten soundly by Bottas’s run in the first session of 1:17.824. Ricciardo then bettered it with 1:17.801 in the afternoon, which will doubtless come down even more as the track rubbers in.
Vettel had to interrupt his run in the afternoon session when his fire extinguisher went off in his Ferrari and he was forced to return to the garage and change his overalls. On returning to the track he, too, went off at turn 11. Max Verstappen was third fastest in the second Red Bull, only three-hundredths of a second behind Hamilton.
At the last round in Austin Hamilton dominated the weekend from the off, being fastest in every session and qualifying before taking the win. He has opened the account in Mexico strongly, although the test here is decidedly different from the Circuit of the Americas and he expects a challenge.
“I’ve not sat with the guys since the last race but they’ve mentioned it’s going to be a tougher weekend for us,” he said. “I don’t think last weekend we expected to be as strong as we were. It definitely is a tougher track. I think Ferrari will be quicker here. The track should bode well for their car. I’m hoping we have a great battle.”
The 2.7-mile circuit in Mexico City is at high altitude, 2,200m above sea level, and consequently has unique demands on the cars. The low air pressure reduces downforce and drag, an advantage on the two big straights but making aerodynamic set-up and balance crucial through the tight, technical part of sector three in the stadium and through turns four, five and six.
This year’s cars, however, with wider tyres and bigger wings, are expected to be much more driveable than previously and Hamilton, Vettel and the Red Bulls will be expecting to be able to push much harder as the weekend progresses.