Hamilton puzzled as Mercedes F1 car ‘feels completely different’ to last week

Hamilton ended seventh overall in the more representative second session, just over 0.3s off Max Verstappen.

Interestingly, Hamilton set the fastest final sector of anyone but lost out in the first two-thirds of the lap.

Mercedes expected to go well in Mexico after narrowly missing out on the victory last time out in Austin - before Hamilton’s disqualification at least - but Friday proved to be a “challenging day” for the seven-time world champion.

Reflecting on the action in Mexico, Hamilton thought his W14 “felt completely different to what it felt like in Austin”.

“It's been a challenging day for me today, the car felt completely different to what it felt like in Austin a week ago and we need to understand why,” he said. “We didn't show the most competitive long-runs, so we've been focusing on trying out different set-ups. 

“The track here comes with its challenges, but we've done well here in previous years. So, we're not yet fully where we want to be ahead of tomorrow, but we will work hard overnight to improve and make necessary changes. 

“The car showed a promising pace in Austin and I'm confident we can get it to a good place here and there's plenty of room for us to improve.”

Teammate George Russell missed FP1 as Mercedes ran Frederik Vesti to meet the FIA’s mandatory rookie driver ruling.

He ended FP2 10th fastest, a couple of tenths off Hamilton.

“It felt good to be back in the car, but I had a challenging session today with mixed weather conditions and a bit of rain towards the end of FP2, which compromised the consecutive laps for everybody,” he added. “It's a tight grid out there and lots of traffic during the sessions today, so one of the challenges we will need to tackle this weekend. 

“We also need to make some improvements with the pace of our car, if we want to be at the front end of Q3 tomorrow, but I know we will work hard overnight to achieve that.”