Ferrari admitted that it were struggling to get to grips with the conditions at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez on Friday heading into this weekend's Mexican Grand Prix.
The extreme altitude of Mexico City is making things difficult for all the teams, affecting the flow of air through the power unit leading to problems with engine power and overall cooling.
Teams are also finding it hard to find the right downforce settings to cope with the thin air. Matters weren't helped by a cloudier conditions in FP2 and a couple of light rain showers before the chequered flag.
“We are all struggling to find the right feeling this weekend,” Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur told Sky Sport Italia in the paddock.
“We will have a better look tomorrow," he insisted. "We’re very focused on cooling down the engine and the tyres, and we will work on that to be ready for the race.”
Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz were fifth and seventh in FP1 respectively, despite Sainz having been unwell on Thursday and Sainz missing half of first practice with a hydraulic issue.
Leclerc improved to third in FP2 behind Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, but was 0.266s off the top pace of the Red Bull Sainz meanwhile finished outside the top ten at the end of the session.
Both drivers insisted that despite being a tough day at the office for Ferrari, it had also been a good one in terms of what they had learned for the rest of the weekend.
"It has been a positive day overall as we were able to test everything we wanted," Leclerc explained in the team's press release after the end of practice. "We tried all the tyres available and worked a bit on the setup.
"It’s clear that being only Friday there’s still some work to do for tomorrow’s qualifying and the race. We will analyse all the data we collected and will work to make a step forward," he acknowledged.
"A busy Friday here in Mexico," picked up Sainz. "Working with the prototype tyres always mixes things up.
"Despite a minor setback in FP1 [with a hydraulic issue], we managed to cover our main items on the run plan throughout the day.
"There is still some work to do before qualifying so I’m looking forward to digging into our data tonight and jumping back in the car for FP3."
Both drivers said they were lapping up the unique flavour of competing in Mexico. "The atmosphere today was, as always, amazing!" declared Sainz. "Thanks to all the fans for your support!"
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