On Track

Clocking the miles on Friday in Mexico

Sebastian and Lance got in their first laps of the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez as the Mexico City Grand Prix weekend got underway.

The opening Free Practice session was interrupted by two red flags, before FP2 was put aside for the second Pirelli tyre test in as many weeks, sampling prototype 2023 compounds.

For the tyre test, as in Austin, drivers had two sets of unspecified tyres to complete a short run of five laps and a long run of 12 laps on each set.

Drivers were not permitted to use any other compounds from their usual weekend allocation during the session if they took part in FP1.

This session was heavily disrupted due to a long red flag stoppage, but both Sebastian and Lance completed plenty of laps in the later, extended 90-minute session.

Sebastian

Sebastian started his day on the Hard tyre at the beginning of FP1, and in the early part of the session he put in a time of 1.23.440.

As the session approached the halfway mark, he switched to the Soft tyre, and improved quickly to a 1.21.525, before a red flag was shown.

When the track was clear, Sebastian returned to the track on the same set of Soft tyres and added a further 10 laps to the six he completed prior to the stoppage.

His run was brought to an early end by a second red flag, which brought the session to an early conclusion.

With 24 laps on the board in total, Sebastian finished the session in 10th.

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With two sets of Prototype tyres to use in a specific programme, Sebastian got his run underway in FP2 with a five-lap run on the first set.

His best time on these tyres was a 1.23.451, before he switched to his second set for his second short run.

He put in a time of 1.22.371 on that set, which was his fastest time in the session, and pitted just before the red flag came out.

When the session resumed, Sebastian headed out to complete a long run of 12 laps on one set of tyres before completing 10 laps on his second set before a second red flag came out, finishing in 12th overall.

"The fans seem to get a little crazier each year – but it is such a fantastic atmosphere here.

"Today went pretty smoothly: we could not test anything in the afternoon tyre test, which was a bit of a shame, but hopefully we were able to give some useful information to Pirelli.

"It is difficult to say where we are at the moment – it looks like we are in our usual positions for a Friday, but I hope we can find something in the set-up and take a step forward for qualifying tomorrow."

Lance

Lance began FP1 on the Hard tyre and put in a time early of a 1.24.738. After a short time in the pits, he returned to the track on that set of tyres and improved to a 1.23.925 to complete 10 laps in total on the Hards before heading to the garage.

At the halfway point, Lance returned to the circuit, this time on the Soft tyre, and improved to a 1.21.865. This was his quickest time of the session before a red flag halted the session.

To conclude the session once the track was clear, Lance returned for a long run on the same Soft tyres. He added nine laps on that set before a red flag ended the running early.

Lance finished 13th in FP1 with 24 laps completed.

With 90 minutes on the clock at the start of FP2, Lance bided his time before emerging on his first set of Prototype tyres.

He put in a best lap of 1.23.378 on that set of tyres, before he swapped to his second set.

However, just after he left the garage for that run, the red flag was shown.

He stayed with that set of tyres when the session resumed and completed a five-lap run on that set with a best time of 1.22.840.

As the session clock ticked down, due to the stoppage, Lance then proceeded to complete a seven-lap run. He followed this up with a five-lap run before the session was ended early due to a red flag. He finished the day in 16th overall.

"It was a fairly quiet Friday today. There is not much to say about FP2, due to the Pirelli tyre test, but it was certainly good to get some laps in throughout the day.

"We have improved the car a lot over the year, and it is starting to really show, even if the outright results today do not necessarily reflect that.

"On another note, I am really enjoying my time at this Grand Prix. The general vibe is really cool. It is a lot a fun both on the track and with the atmosphere."