MEXICO CITY -- Sebastian Vettel is confident he can improve over the remainder of the Mexican Grand Prix weekend after a problematic Friday practice.
The in-cockpit fire extinguisher went off on Vettel's car during second practice in Mexico, causing him to return to the pits and lose time while the car was cleaned up and he changed his overalls. Combined with a struggle for balance and a number of small mistakes on his fast runs, Vettel said the practice day had been far from perfect.
"It was another Friday which didn't go 100 per cent right as we had the fire extinguisher burst in the middle of the run," Vettel said. "Initially it felt like it was burning but it turned out to be cold so I had to go back, we changed it but lost some time but we could recover.
"Some screw went loose and the pressure finds its way out. It wasn't that pleasant for me so I could do with a bit of a cool down."
Vettel finished the session fourth fastest, 0.250s off the quickest time set by Daniel Ricciardo and 0.119s off title rival Lewis Hamilton.
"The car was a bit so-so," Vettel explained. "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."