Vettel puts Ferrari into the mix in Mexico
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[October 29, 2016]
By Alan Baldwin
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Sebastian
Vettel put Ferrari into the Mexican Grand Prix mix with the fastest
practice lap on Friday while Lewis Hamilton laid down a marker in
his title battle with Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg.
Triple champion Hamilton, 26 points behind Rosberg with three races
remaining, had set the pace on a chilly and overcast morning at the
Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez with a lap of one minute 20.914
seconds.
Vettel ousted the Briton from the top in the afternoon, by just
0.004 of a second, with a lap of 1:19.790 on supersoft tyres that
showed Ferrari are not about to let Sunday's race turn into another
Mercedes duel.
It was the first time the Italian team had led a Formula One
practice session since Belgium in August and Vettel was pumped up,
calling McLaren's Fernando Alonso 'an idiot' after being slowed by
the Spaniard.
"Maybe it was just me today, but I felt that I was actually in
Mexico City, not on the race track, with a lot of traffic," said the
four times champion.
"I think overall the pace was good, which was the more important
thing. We can still improve for tomorrow, and then go from there."
A more competitive Ferrari could be good news for Hamilton if he can
take the victory and have others finishing between him and Rosberg.
Rosberg, winner of nine races to Hamilton's seven so far this
season, was seventh on the morning timesheets and 0.759 off
Hamilton's pace but moved up to third in the afternoon -- albeit
still 0.431 slower than his team mate.
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WORK TO DO
Mercedes said the championship leader had been running through his
morning program as planned and had not suffered any problem, but
Rosberg said he had work to do.
"It's been a bit of a steep learning curve to understand what to do
with the tyres, how to get the best out of them for one lap and also
for the long runs," said the German.
"We really learned a lot today and it's not been a bad start overall
but we have a lot of homework to do tonight...Ferrari seemed very
quick here today so they will be a big threat."
Hamilton, who picked up where he left off after a dominant win in
Texas last weekend, needs to win on Sunday to boost his flagging
hopes of a fourth title while Rosberg would be crowned champion if
he wins and his team mate finishes 10th or lower.
[to top of second column] |
![](../images/102916pics/sports59.jpg)
Ferrari Formula One driver Sebastian Vettel of Germany attends a
news conference in Mexico City, Mexico, October 26, 2016.
REUTERS/Henry Romero
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The Briton said the track felt a lot better than last year, when it
returned after a 23-year absence, and he felt more comfortable in
the car.
Mercedes have already clinched the constructors' championship for
the third year in a row while Rosberg and Hamilton are the only
drivers in contention for the other title.
Vettel's team mate Kimi Raikkonen, who was third in the morning, was
fourth after lunch.
Mexican Sergio Perez kept the home crowd cheering with fourth place
ahead of Force India team mate Nico Hulkenberg in the opening
session but dropped back to 15th in the afternoon.
The morning session was red-flagged when Sauber's Brazilian Felipe
Nasr ran bumpily over a kerb, with the right section of his car's
front wing shattering in a cloud of carbon fiber debris.
Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo, third in Texas behind the Mercedes
pair, was eighth and fifth fastest respectively in the sessions with
Dutch team mate Max Verstappen 14th and seventh.
Verstappen had a moment of early drama when mechanics had to use
fire extinguishers on his flaming rear brakes.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Toby Davis)
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