Vettel plays down extinguisher issue in Mexico

Sebastian Vettel played down a fire extinguisher issue that delayed his running in FP2 for the Mexican Grand Prix but admits Ferrari has work to do overnight.

The German was on his long run when he slowed on track and radioed his team to say something had burst in the car. Having originally seemed animated, Vettel calmed when he realized it was his fire extinguisher that had gone off, but admits it was still frustrating to lose out on track time as a result.

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"It was another Friday which didn't go 100% right as we had the fire extinguisher which burst in the middle of the run," Vettel said. "Initially it was burning but it turned out to be cold so I had to go back; we changed it and lost some time but we could recover. It is a short track but there was a lot of traffic so it wasn't ideal but let's see what the others do.

"The car was a bit so-so – some laps were really good and others were not so good, so I think the car in general is quick but we need to work a little bit more. I don't think there is an awful lot of work it is more about finding the balance then we can make a good step forward."

With the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez being the highest on the F1 calendar, Vettel says the conditions will make track position even more crucial on Sunday.

"Yes I think it is key – obviously it is tough here to cool the car and the brakes, so if you are stuck behind someone it is quite bad. So it is nice if you are ahead and you can do your pace and the other one the asphalt is quite dark and gets quite hot so I think tire management will be crucial again. Keeping the temperatures as low as possible will be tricky but whoever succeeds best will have the strongest pace."

Vettel ended FP2 fourth-fastest overall, exactly a quarter of a second off the pace set by his former Red Bull teammate Daniel Ricciardo.