Red Bull: "We're the favourites for pole position"

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko thinks that his team will be the favourites in Mexico to grab pole position, as the Bulls have achieved a one-two in both practice sessions on Friday.

The conditions at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez have sparked a lot of debate. One person says that the height of the circuit doesn't impact the speed of the cars much, the other says that it's a different world in terms of speed.

However, there are a lot of people that think the height means that Ferrari and Mercedes won't have their qualifying mode on their respective cars, which would give Red Bull a big advantage.

On Friday, Red Bull were quickest with a full second advantage on the rest of the field, with Renault's Carlos Sainz finishing third on both occasions. While Ferrari and Mercedes will definitely improve, Marko still thinks that his two drivers should be capable of grabbing pole position.

"Red Bull is positioned to grab pole position today," Marko was quoted by Motorsport-Total.

"The so-called 'party mode' [Ferrari and Mercedes's qualifying mode] doesn't give an advantage here.

"Our engineers found out that the qualifying mode can be used for one lap at best and that this setting won't be close to the normal pace they would have [in qualifying mode]."

Marko added that the troubles on Max Verstappen's car shouldn't be a big issue on Saturday, as the Dutchman lost power during FP2. Verstappen will try to secure the first pole position of his career.