Bottas sees quick Red Bull ahead of Mexican Grand Prix

Valtteri Bottas could not match the speed of the RB16B of Max Verstappen. The difference was almost half a second and so the Finnish driver will have to work hard with Mercedes to beat rival Red Bull Racing in Mexico. The 32-year old driver told Sky Sports that he is not dissatisfied, but that there is still room for improvement.

"Starting the day, it was quite tricky with the low grip. Dusty track and difficult to get a proper read on the car. I felt that it was not far off and we could really fine-tune it for FP2," Bottas said afterwards.

Verstappen and Perez fast

Verstappen and Sergio Perez had a good second free practice. The Mercedes driver is wary. "Red Bull seems a bit quick. They definitely seem quicker today, at least on the single lap. They have strong pace on the soft tyre," he said.

The third free practice session starts on Saturday at 17:00hrs UK time. Three hours later it's time for qualifying.