Hamilton assesses Mexican GP chances amid Red Bull speed

Lewis Hamilton has suggested that Red Bull "seem out of the reach" of Mercedes at the moment following the impressive times of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo in free practice for the Mexican Grand Prix, as the Brit attempts to secure enough points for the title.

The four-time world champion complained of a lack of power during practice on Friday, and ended up finishing 1.5 seconds adrift of Verstappen's impressive time.

He admitted that the Bulls could simply be too quick for Mercedes this weekend, with his team facing some hard work to make up the difference.

"The car was good in some places, but not so good in others," said Hamilton.

"We've got some ground to catch up on, so we're now going to go through everything in the debrief and look at all the details to find some answers.

Mexico City ???????????? I love this place. Huge thanks to the fans who came out to my #TommyXLewis event. Excited for the weekend ahead #MexicoGP @TommyHilfiger pic.twitter.com/3AP31KbCSn — Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) October 25, 2018

"Red Bull seem out of our reach at the moment, Ferrari are right there with us, but we're here to try and compete, so we will do the best we can to have a real race. On the long run I think I was right there with Sebastian [Vettel]'s times, so we'll have a bit of a battle."

Mercedes technical director James Allison provided a reason for the lack of power in the car, saying performance had to be toned down due to overheating.

"We were overheating the power unit in a number of areas today, and that meant we had to protect against this by turning it down as a precaution," Allison said.

"With a bit luck, and no little hard work, we can get ourselves into better shape tomorrow and on Sunday, when conditions are also forecast to be cooler."

Hamilton needs to finish in the top seven in the Mexican GP, or hope Sebastian Vettel doesn't win, in order to be crowned 2018 drivers' champion on Sunday.

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