George Russell eyes qualifying as the target in Mexico. Photo: RacePictures.

Russell eyes redemption in Mexico as Mercedes turn up the heat

15:44, 25 Oct

Updated: 16:52, 25 Oct

byNorberto Mujica

George Russell ended Friday’s second practice session for the Mexico City Grand Prix in sixth place, noting that Mercedes’ main priority heading into the weekend will be qualifying, especially with overtaking becoming increasingly difficult in the current generation of F1 cars..

Reflecting on the day’s running, Russell pointed out how fine the margins are around the short and technical Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez circuit.

“It’s close out there, it’s obviously a short track, it’s like a minute, a minute 17, a minute 16 is gonna be the lap time, so the margins are always tight,” he explained.

McLaren’s long-run pace drew attention once again on Friday, with Lando Norris looking particularly strong during the race simulations. However, their recent struggles in qualifying, having missed pole for the past four races, could give Mercedes an opportunity.

Photo: RacePictures.

“Single lap I think we look okay, Lando looked very quick on his long run, which has obviously been the theme, but as we know qualifying’s so important, so it’s sort of all eyes on that for tomorrow, and see what we can do, but it’ll be close between the top eight cars.”

Russell also warned that traffic could play a key role in qualifying, given the circuit’s tight layout and short lap.

“Yeah, I mean, this is, I don’t know if it’s the second, I think it’s the second shortest track of the season, this one, third, alright, so third shortest track of the season and especially this last sector is so slow speed, tight and twisty,” he said.

Photo: RacePictures.

“So traffic in Q1, Q2 is going to be an issue, same for everybody. You can’t take too much margin because the gaps are so close and obviously in Q1 the backfield cars are often going two or three sets of new tyres.

"And if you want to get to Q3 with two sets, you can’t be throwing tyres at it. So, it’s never straightforward," he concluded.

Mercedes is close in Mexico

After Friday's action at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, Mercedes seem to be competitive, with Andrea Kimi Antonelli finishing FP1 in P2, and both Mercedes drivers slotting in P3 and P6 respectively in the afternoon session.

To have a better overview of each team's chances during qualifying you can read our post-Friday technical analysis here.

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