MEXICO CITY -- Lewis Hamilton expects to be in a close battle with Ferrari and Red Bull at the Mexican Grand Prix this weekend after his Mercedes performed better than expected during Friday practice.
Hamilton only needs to finish fifth to secure the title this weekend, but has made clear that he wants to clinch his fourth world championship with a race win. In Friday's second practice he was second fastest, just 0.131s off pace setter Daniel Ricciardo, and he said his performance during the session was reassuring despite a spin on his first flying lap.
"The car didn't feel great this morning [in first practice], obviously I was relatively quick, but I needed to make some good changes between P1 and P2," Hamilton said.