The Mexican circuit in very unique and as such it presents its own unique challenges, as the two Scuderia Ferrari drivers discovered quite quickly on the opening day of play for this weekend's Mexican Grand Prix.
At the end of a busy Friday, the two drivers from Maranello gave their opinions on the Mexican circuit and their runs with the SF70H, during which all three tyre compounds were tried out in both fast-lap and long-run configuration.
โIt was a normal Friday, trying different things and solutions to use in the car,โ said Kimi. โBecause of the high altitude the track conditions were not easy, always feeling a bit slippery. In some places it was ok while in some others it was a bit more difficult.โ
โObviously you always want to have an easier and more straightforward day, with a better feeling from the beginning, but it's the normal story on Friday. It's the first practice and we can improve. In the evening we'll go through everything, figure out what's best and get ready for tomorrowโ.
However, a curious accident hampered Sebastian's afternoonโฆ
โThis is a day in which we haven't done it 100% right,โ he explained. โThe fire extinguisher went off in the middle of the run. Initially it just felt like burning, and then it turned out to be very cold, so I had to go back, but we couldn't recover the time lost. This is a short track with a lot of traffic, so it is not ideal.โ
โAlso, here it is tough to cool the car, the brakes, all the components, so if you are stuck behind someone else, it is quite bad. You want to be ahead of traffic and able to keep your pace. I think that keeping the temperatures as low as possible here will be tricky, but whoever succeeds the best will have the strongest pace. The car is quick, I just think it is important to find the right balanceโ.
