Hamilton left puzzled by 'night and day' change in Mercedes car

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Valtteri Bottas uses DRS to race Max Verstappen down to Turn 1 in second practice Valtteri Bottas uses DRS to race Max Verstappen down to Turn 1 in second practice Lewis Hamilton says Mercedes' car feels "night and day" different at the Mexico City Grand Prix compared to last weekend in Austin, yet is hopeful to be close to the front row in qualifying. Hamilton was seventh in second practice, the most representative session of the day, while Mercedes team-mate George Russell was 10th after missing first practice as Formula 2 driver Frederik Vesti took over his car as part of F1's mandatory rookie regulations.Toto Wolff told Sky Sports F1 after the first session that the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez looked as though it would be "a good track" for Mercedes, with the team predicting that Hamilton would have been in the top three in that opening practice with a clean lap. "Not that great. Not dodgy, just not the greatest. A bit of a struggle in the car," said Hamilton at the end of Friday's running."The car is night and day different compared to last week and yeah… I don't really know what to say. You just never know what you're going to get with this one. Some days she's great and some day's she's not."It's hard to extract the lap. I think there definitely is performance there, it's just trying to extract it and it's quite peaky this weekend maybe just with the aero map or whatever it may be."So we're going to work on it overnight but it definitely wasn't a fun day compared to P1 in Austin. We were a bit off but hopefully overnight we can find something and tomorrow maybe the car will be nicer to drive." Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Lewis Hamilton says his car in Friday practice is night and day compared to last week. Lewis Hamilton says his car in Friday practice is night and day compared to last week. Asked how much Mercedes can improve going into Saturday, he added: "Not sure. Again, you just never know what to expect with this car. Maybe we'll make the changes and we'll pick that pace up."I think there was definitely some performance in there to be closer to maybe [being] in the top three but we've got to figure out [how] to make it easier for us to extract that performance. So that's what we'll work on."The Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez is one of Mercedes' less successful tracks since the event returned to the F1 calendar in 2015, although amid a difficult season last year they ran Max Verstappen close in qualifying and then Hamilton finished second in the race. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Toto Wolff says he would risk disqualification again in an attempt for a race win after Lewis Hamilton was disqualified in Austin for breaching plank rules. Toto Wolff says he would risk disqualification again in an attempt for a race win after Lewis Hamilton was disqualified in Austin for breaching plank rules. Russell admitted he had "no idea" where Mercedes would be in qualifying this time around but is targeting a top four spot for Sunday's grid ahead of the long run down to Turn One."There is potential but we have a lot of work to do overnight. It's very tight, especially with some very unexpected cars," said Russell."We saw some cars in the top 10 that we weren't expecting to be there. But we feel like we have got a lot to prove and have got the opportunity to do it as well. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player George Russell admits that he didn't expect some cars in Friday practice to be in the top 10! George Russell admits that he didn't expect some cars in Friday practice to be in the top 10! "It's all about the tyres then on the long run you are managing the engine, the brakes and that has an impact on the tyres. It's going to be a very tricky race on Sunday and I think that's why qualifying will be key."The British driver was also asked what the team need to work on and stated: "Faster race car. We were probably in the wrong window. Lewis and I were on two different setups and we probably both weren't in the right window, so that has given us an indication that probably halfway between both is the right place to be."It's frustrating in the moment to have a negative car and not the best of days but through those difficult moments you probably learn more than when the car is in a better place." Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Which teammate appeared in a music video? Had a sibling in Big Brother? Jenson Button takes on the team-mates challenge. Which teammate appeared in a music video? Had a sibling in Big Brother? Jenson Button takes on the team-mates challenge. Red Bull expect close qualifyingThe top eight cars were split by less than four tenths of a second in t