FP1
Weather: Warm and dry
Air & Track Temperatures: 16-20°C / 28-37°C
F. Massa, FW40-04, Mercedes-AMG F1 M08 EQ Power+, 1:19.443 (9th)
L. Stroll, FW40-03, Mercedes-AMG F1 M08 EQ Power+, 1:19.772 (12th)
Quickest time: V. Bottas 1:17.824
FP2
Weather: Hot and dry
Air & Track Temperatures: 22-25°C / 45-48°C
F. Massa, FW40-04, Mercedes-AMG F1 M08 EQ Power+, 1:19.206 (12th)
L. Stroll, FW40-03, Mercedes-AMG F1 M08 EQ Power+, 1:19.524 (14th)
Quickest time: D. Ricciardo 1:17.801
Paddy Lowe, Chief Technical Officer: It’s been a nice sunny day to start the weekend here in Mexico. We had a lot of work planned for today. We achieved most of it but missed out on some items because of the red flag in FP1. Generally, we had a problem-free day with a lot of tests in the morning and then more regular homework in the afternoon. As usual, the competition looks very tight in the midfield and there’s some trickiness around getting the best lap for qualifying with tyre preparation, which we’ll be working on a lot overnight and also in FP3 tomorrow.
Felipe Massa: Austin was maybe a slightly better Friday in terms of laptime. I didn’t have the perfect lap on my first run on the soft tyre, which is really hard for here. I wasn’t 100% ready for the ultrasoft but the long run wasn’t bad, so I think we are there in the fight. We just need to try and score points. We know that Renault are looking competitive. With the altitude here, even if you have the maximum downforce, you still have a lot less than at Monza, so it’s easy to make mistakes. I didn’t, so I hope I can carry on like that all weekend. Tomorrow, I hope we can have a good qualifying and a good race.
Lance Stroll: It has been a decent day and I like the track. It is my first time here in Mexico, so I am just learning the track and getting into it. It is definitely challenging due to the high altitude and the car is very nervous, but it is the same for everyone. I have been pushing to try and understand the limits of the car. It is not easy to get the tyre working on one lap. I have no expectations for qualifying and we will just do what we have to do to get everything right.
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