Pierre Gasly: The grip on the track was very low.

      Pierre Gasly missed the first practice session of the Mexico Grand Prix, giving the car to the team's reserve driver Paul Aron. In the second practice the French driver returned to the wheel, posted the slowest time and called the session one of the toughest of the season because the car lacked grip on the track.

      Franco Colapinto ran both Friday sessions – he had no particular problems with the A525.

      Pierre Gasly (20th): “I missed the first session because Paul took the wheel of my car. He worked well through the program and evaluated the setup, gathering useful information for the team to work with.

      I returned to the car for the second session, which turned out to be one of the most difficult of the season. For certain reasons I felt uncomfortable in the car. It was quite difficult in every respect, as the car wasn’t behaving as usual and the grip on the track was very low.

      Not the best start to the weekend, but I’m confident we’ll regroup and perform better when it matters.”

      Franco Colapinto (18th): “I’m happy to be back in this part of the world and to drive on a unique circuit. Personally, Friday went well for me and I picked up speed quite quickly.

      I think we still have work to do, considering the kerbs and bumps on the track – they make the car unstable. At the end of the second session I was quite pleased with the car’s pace on a long run. Hopefully that will form the basis for Sunday’s performance.

      The team has a lot to analyze, but it was a normal Friday with areas we need to improve.”

      Paul Aron (15th in the first session): “First of all I want to say a huge thank you to the team for the opportunity to sit in the car in the first practice. Mexico is a challenging circuit, partly because of the high altitude, but I gained a great experience driving in those conditions.

      Grip on the asphalt was quite low, so lap by lap I grew in confidence. It wasn’t easy dealing with traffic, which held me up, but that was to be expected given the short lap and the large number of rookies in the session.

      The task for the session was to help the team test different setup options and provide feedback. The session was successful and very useful for my development. Over the remaining days of the weekend I’ll try to help the team.”