Verstappen says Red Bull better than 2017 win in Mexico

Max Verstappen underlined Red Bull's status as favourites for victory at the Mexican Grand Prix, insisting that his RB14 car feels stronger around the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez than it did as he drove to victory on the same circuit 12 months ago.

Verstappen and team-mate Daniel Ricciardo were first and second respectively in both Friday sessions, although the Dutchman's excitement was slightly checked by his FP2 being curtailed by hydraulic failure.

It leaves Verstappen potentially eyeing a shot at becoming Formula 1's youngest pole-sitter in history on Friday, ahead of a race that Red bull have planned to be strong at for several weeks.

"Today has been really good, better than expected," he said. "Not just for me but for Daniel also, it's nice to have us both at the top.

"We have a very good car at this circuit, good downforce and good mechanical grip. This was already clear from Monaco earlier in the year and you can see again it is working really well here.

"If you have good grip you can make quite a big gap quickly because the surface is quite slippery out there.

"As always there are areas to improve but for now it's looking good.

"I said in Japan that it was one of my worst Friday's in F1, this has been one of the best. The car was quick here last year but after today I think we are more competitive than 2017."

Verstappen echoed Christian Horner's suggestion that Red Bull are not concerned that his late stop in FP2 will lead to trouble over the weekend.

"We think I had a small issue with hydraulics at the end but we haven't been able to check the car yet. We are not too concerned ahead of tomorrow, the guys will investigate this evening but hopefully it is a quick fix."

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