Max Verstappen admits a better race pace will be the only way to beat Ferrari at the Mexican Grand Prix.

The Dutchman finished second to pacesetter Sebastian Vettel on Friday, with only a tenth of a second splitting the German from the Red Bull.

But once again it is the straight-line speed of the Scuderia that is proving decisive, and Verstappen only expects the gap to widen on Saturday.

“I don't think in qualifying we can fight with them, they are just too quick,” he admitted via Crash.net

“The rest is all pretty much in the same speed range, but they are just miles ahead, that's how it is at the moment, we just can't gain the time back in the corners, unfortunately."

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Though a sixth consecutive pole for Ferrari may seem inevitable, the now traditional issues with tyre wear in Mexico is offering Verstappen hope.

"I guess for us we just have to focus a bit more for the race and see that we can keep the tyres under control, then I think it will still be a good race,” he suggested.

“Initially, [on the long run, the tyres] felt good, but you could see everyone is having trouble with them.”

Verstappen was also left alone to carry the flag for Red Bull after Alex Albon had a "careless" crash during the afternoon at Turn 7.

“I'll have a look at it because it did go really quick, I wasn't expecting it to go like that,” the Thai driver summarised.

“Just a bit of a careless mistake, I used a bit too much track. These things go quickly. I did snap it, it went really quick."

On his first trip to Mexico, Albon also fears ramifications from the lost track time.

“We missed a good chunk of long-running data as well, so it won't be easy," he admitted. "I think we'll have to change the run plan for tomorrow in FP3, and then try and find a good solution for qualifying.

“I think the car's good. I think it shows what the car was like the last two years. Just got to rebuild the rhythm a little bit for tomorrow and then fight for the qualifying.”