On the face of it, Ferrari appeared the team to beat after the first day of running for the Mexican Grand Prix, with Sebastian Vettel heading Free Practice 2 from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. But the team’s sixth pole in as many races was far from a foregone conclusion, according to the German driver…

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton led FP1 in Mexico, but finished just 0.119s ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc despite running the quicker soft rubber compared to Leclerc’s mediums. But then in the qualifying simulations of FP2, Vettel took the advantage, as he headed the session from Verstappen.

READ MORE: Verstappen focusing on race pace as he declares Ferrari ‘miles ahead’ on pure speed

But with the Red Bull driver just 0.115s adrift, and Mercedes looking to improve overnight – with Valtteri Bottas having finished a disappointing six-tenths down on Vettel in FP2 – Vettel was still predicting a tight fight for pole at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.