Vettel: Top three teams very close in Mexico

Sebastian Vettel remained coy about Ferrari's alleged pace advantage in Mexico following Friday's practice running, saying the margins between the top three teams remained "very close".

Japan pole-sitter Vettel set the pace through Free Practice 2 at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, edging out Red Bull's Max Verstappen by one-tenth of a second as Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc ended the day third.

Verstappen and the Mercedes duo of Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton all talked up Ferrari's advantage after Friday. The trio claimed it would be difficult to compete with Vettel and Leclerc in qualifying given the Ferrari car's strength in a straight line.

Vettel refused to get ahead of himself when recapping his Friday, saying there was still room for Ferrari to improve.

"Charles and I split the work today," Vettel said. "I did most of the work on the Medium tyre, which was ok. We don’t look that bad, but I don’t have the full picture yet. I did only two laps on new Softs so it’s difficult to say, but I don’t think I had the worst tyre today for the long runs.

"However there are still some areas where we can improve tomorrow in terms of the general balance and the feeling I have with the car. Max looks strong, but all the three top teams are very close, so let’s see what tomorrow brings."

Leclerc had a more mixed day of running in Mexico, struggling more through FP2 and ending his session with a big spin at Turn 7 that he managed to save before the car hit the wall.

"For me, FP1 was good while FP2 turned out to be more tricky. I struggled a bit with the car balance and there are still some improvements I want to make in my driving," Leclerc said.

"In general, the grip is rather poor on this track because we find ourselves at such a high altitude and the downforce is not as efficient as it is at other tracks.

"To win this race, you have to get a good start and keep the lead well into Turn 1. Being behind someone is a disadvantage here because of the cooling issues everyone faces, so having a strong qualifying result will be a key factor.

"Our competitors are strong and we will see where we really stand tomorrow, but we are confident of our potential and ready to give it our all once again."