Following a two-year break from the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez track, both Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz faced some challenges on their return to the Mexico City circuit but managed to stay in the top ten for both FP1 and FP2. Leclerc made a mistake in the last corner where he spun, hitting the wall and ultimately damaging his rear wing. Luckily for the Monegasque, the incident was not a substantial setback and he managed to make up time in the FP1 session. After finishing eighth in FP1, Leclerc managed to make some progress in FP2 ending his day in seventh.  

"Our sessions today were quite different. In the morning, there was a lot of dust on the track, which made it quite slippery and tricky to drive, especially in terms of braking," Leclerc said.

"The track evolution was significant between FP1 and FP2. Lap after lap, you could feel that you are getting faster. It’s still difficult to compare ourselves to the others and understand exactly where we are."

Looking ahead to FP3 and qualifying, Leclerc feels confident and says the key will be to focus on putting together the best lap:  

"For tomorrow, we just have to focus on putting together the best lap we can and then I am confident that we have the potential to do a good job this weekend."

Carlos Sainz slightly outperformed his teammate for both practice sessions by one place. The Spaniard finished sixth in FP1 and fifth in FP2. Sainz faced similar issues to Leclerc with lack of grip directly affecting the car’s performance on track.   

"A challenging Friday as always here in Mexico, where the lack of grip affects the behaviour of the car a lot. We tried some changes from FP1 to FP2 which didn’t seem to work, so we came back to this morning’s set-up during the session to try and replicate the balance I had in FP1 when I was happier with it.”

Sainz is taking a more practical approach than his team-mate Leclerc, stating that the team will look for some other solutions to improve the car’s performance and that it will be a close battle with the other teams.   

"Tomorrow we’ll try other alternatives to see if we can keep finding lap time and improve the overall performance of the car. Some of our competitors look very quick so it’s going to be a tight fight.”

Despite the demanding day, both Scuderia drivers expressed how good it was to be back in the vibrant and energetic Mexico city. 

"It’s great to be back in Mexico City! The atmosphere here is amazing as always. Even before arriving at the track, it’s really impressive to see so many fans around town and we really appreciate everyone’s support,” Leclerc stated.

"Whenever I switch off the engine, I can hear the fans shouting loud in the grandstands. It’s been great to see so many Ferrari flags out there here in Mexico. We feel the support and we will try to put together a good weekend for everyone watching!" concluded Sainz.