Sebastian Vettel feels Mercedes will "tough to beat" in this weekend's Brazilian Grand Prix despite initial hopes Ferrari's Formula 1 car would be stronger and able to take the fight to Lewis Hamilton and Valt🦄teri Bottas. 

Vettel came sixt♔h in FP1 - behind both Mercedes drivers, his teammate and both Red Bulls - which was followed by a P4 finish in FP2 as he trailed Hamilton, Bottas and Ricciardo. 

Ferrari looked unable to compete with Mercedes for pace through practice despiteꦆ trying different𒈔 setups over the sessions, leaving Vettel to turn attention to a fight with Red Bull to be second-fastest in Brazil.

"I think we gꦜot more running than expected. There was no rain and it made it a bit 🌼easier, but I think overall it’s pretty straightforward: Mercedes seems to be the quickest and then it’s pretty close between Red Bull and us," Vettel said.

Having✨ lost the championship to Hamilton in Mexico, Vettel said that Ferrari was already preparing for 2018 - and had been since the earliest 2017 test: "We've been doing꧒ it for a while. Since the first test in winter, we've put things on for next year."

At least for the moment, however, he seemed resigned to Mercedes running clear at the front in Interlagos, even with conditions tipped to be cooler through qualifying w♐ith the threat of rain.

"We'll see what we get tomorrow. I think we can fine-tune the balance a💮nd that should help us," V꧅ettel said.

"As I said, it will be tough to beat Mercedes. They♎ look quick in all conditions, all tyres. So we'll see."