FP1 & FP2 - Mexico GP report: Williams Mercedes

Rob Smedley, Head of Performance Engineering

First impressions of the circuit are really good, the layout is great. The grip was really low today as you can see from all the drivers’ comments. It was very slippery even with the option tyre, but I’m sure that’s going to improve over weekend. The characteristics of the option and the prime will change, the delta between the two and the degradation will also change. It’s been quite a reasonable start, we did all the work we needed to get through on low and high fuel, now we just need to put it all together for qualifying tomorrow.

Valtteri Bottas

We had plenty of running today, which was good. The conditions were very difficult, with very low overall grip because of the high altitude, but also because of the new asphalt which is very slippery. Tonight we need to look at how we can get the tyres to work and bite better on the surface, that’s the main thing. But so far it’s not too bad, I think we can have a good weekend.

Felipe Massa

It was a very difficult day. It was the first time on this track and it was one of the most slippery tracks I’ve ever driven in my life. It was difficult to keep the car on the track, especially in the wet as the conditions were really slippery. Even in the dry we had to work to understand the grip of the tyres which was very difficult. We have a lot of work for tomorrow to understand the car, the track, the balance and even the weather, this will be important work for the outcome of the rest of the weekend.