Red Bull have a massive advantage in Mexico, as the high altitudes have neutralised the engine advantage of both Mercedes and Ferrari.
Verstappen led both FP1 and FP2, using the Red Bull chassis to good effect and dishing out some brilliant lap timings on the opening day of the weekend in Mexico.
However, things did not really end on a high note for Verstappen, as his Red Bull came to a halt in FP2, with the Dutch jumping out of his machine and examining what went wrong at the end of such a fruitful day for Red Bull.
Christian Horner has explained that a hydraulic issue let to Verstappen’s car coming to a halt, and has confirmed that the issue shouldn’t cause trouble during qualifying or on race day for Red Bull.
Horner was confident about the entire issue and said that even if it turns out to be an engine issue, Verstappen does have one in the pool and thus should be okay.
“It’s a hydraulic issue of some sorts,” Horner said as quoted by Sky Sports
“So we need to get the car back to understand what’s caused it.
“And then if it is an engine change, he’s still got one in his pool so he should be alright.
“We need to get the car back first of all to understand it.
“For him it was immediate because the steering went heavy. The hydraulics run everything on these cars: the power steering, throttle, etcetera, etcetera.
“So everything went heavy for him and he brought the car to a sensible halt, and we just need to get it back now, but he’s very comfortable around here.” he added.
Horner was thrilled that both Red Bull cars found themselves at the top after the practice session, something that hasn’t quite happened for Red Bull all year.
“Daniels had a great session as well. Long-run pace looked good, [it is the] first time we’ve been first and second in both sessions on a Friday for some time.” he concluded.
According to what has happened in practice today, Vettel will find it extremely difficult to win on Sunday and thus Hamilton, who just needs to manage a P7 should be able to clinch the title(unless he DNFs).
