Hamilton: “They are faster than us”

After dominating Free Practice 1 in the Mexican capital this Friday, the Mercedes de Valtteri Bottas et Lewis Hamilton suffered the law of Max Verstappen in EL2.

The Dutchman pushes the Finn back to 0”424 and his great rival for the title by more than half a second. If Red Bull thinks Mercedes kept some under control in the afternoon, Hamilton says he does not yet have the weapons to respond to the RB16B.

« The sensations behind the wheel are quite satisfactory, there are no major concerns to report, confided the seven-time world champion, who is 12 points behind Verstappen with 5 races to go. There was no major concern.

We give everything we have. It's just that they are faster than us at the moment.

We will work to refine and improve the settings, but we lack support. This is probably why there is this half-second difference ».

Author of the best lap in EL1, Bottas shared the feeling of his leader, whom he promised to help in his quest for an 8th world title at the end of the season.

« The Red Bulls look fast, commented the Finn. Faster than us on a lap anyway. Their pace with the soft tire is really strong. We have to work on this if we want to fight for pole position ».

In the Red Bull clan, Verstappen, double winner in Mexico (in 2017 and 2018) was faithful to his little talkative nature. “ It’s a good start to the weekend », summed up the Dutchman with his usual economy of words.