Mercedes not yet satisfied in Mexico: 'We've got areas to work on'

Mercedes could be reasonably satisfied after the first day in Mexico. Whereas in the first free practice session they did not manage to get anywhere near the fastest time, a few hours later George Russell grabbed first place. Andrew Shovlin, however, still saw plenty of points to work on.

"From what we can tell the car is working well on both single lap and long run. The balance isn't perfect so we've got areas to work on overnight, but a reasonable start at what is normally a very challenging circuit," he explained in Mercedes' press release.

Nyck de Vries was in Mercedes' car for the last time in the first session. The Dutchman was allowed to finish practice as George Russell's replacement and finished in 18th place. Shovlin stressed that the German formation was very happy with him.

"The programme was never going to flatter him as we were only running the hard tyre and working through a sequence of test items, but he did another very solid job. That finishes off his planned driving duties for our team and we are looking forward to seeing him race next year." Next season, De Vries will race for AlphaTauri.