Vettel expects a “very close fight between the top 3 teams”

Don't go telling Sebastian Vettel which Ferrari has the advantage on the evening of the first free practices for the 2019 Mexican Grand Prix. Like most of his comrades, the four-time world champion is always a little tongue-tied when it comes to taking stock of his day on Friday . 

Only 6th time in EL1 this morning, almost nine tenths behind the leader Lewis Hamilton, Vettel reversed the trend in the afternoon to take his SF90 to the top of the timesheet. 

« It's always hard to find the perfect feeling on this track because the car moves a lot, he reported. However, I felt better in FP2 and little by little I was able to find the right rhythm and bring down the time. We can still improve in terms of the balance of the car and the sensations behind the wheel. I think it will be very close between the top 3 teams, which is good news ». 

While the pilots Mercedes complained about complicated tire management on the Mexican track which winds at an altitude of 2200 meters, Vettel admits not having encountered any major problems in this area.

« We shared the work with Charles (Leclerc), added the German. I focused on the mediums and these indeed required special care. Afterwards, I must admit that we were not too bad compared to some of our rivals. As for the softs, I only had them for a few laps so it's hard to know what to expect but I saw that Charles had difficulty with this compound. ».

When asked openly if Ferrari was favorite for the rest of the weekend, Vettel responded with Normand: “ I don’t think you can say that anyone is really breaking away at the moment. So there is no favorite. Or there are only favorites ». 

A true king of analysis, Seb.