Mexican GP: Verstappen fastest as title charge continues in FP2 as Piastri struggles

Max Verstappen made up for lost time after sitting out Free Practice 1 to top the day’s second practice hour.

The Dutchman headed the second practice session for the Mexico City Grand Prix from Charles Leclerc and Kimi Antonelli, while title leader Oscar Piastri languished down the order.

Max Verstappen makes up for lost time as Oscar Piastri struggles

An early drama for Antonelli saw the young Italian’s car go into limp home mode in the opening moments of the session.

Remaining on track, he managed to resolve the issue temporarily and carried on at full pace once more.

He did that as Aston Martin completed a series of installation laps, scrubbing sets of soft tyres.

Much of the rest of the field was on medium tyres, Leclerc fastest on a 1:18.669s.

At McLaren, Lando Norris reported misfires and surges, especially on corner exit, but like Antonelli, he too remained on track.

The issue at Mercedes hadn’t been completely resolved, and Antonelli did ultimately return to the garage where the team took a closer look under the engine cover.

While it did so, George Russell had a wild snap of oversteer at Turn 10 in the other Mercedes, which forced him to take to the run-off area.

The circuit remained dusty; better than it had been in the opening hour of practice earlier in the day, but there remained a stark difference between the racing line and a car-width wide.

That was evidenced by the times being produced, with Charles Leclerc logging a 1:18.353s, just over three-tenths clear of Lando Norris. Those times came on medium rubber.

Antonelli’s delay lasted around 10 minutes before he was back out on track with plenty of time available to make up for the interruption.

Alex Albon had a moment exiting the final corner, the back end of his Williams stepping out and lightly tagging the wall with his left-rear.

Soon after, the field switched focus to qualifying simulations.

Leclerc had moved the marker on to 1:17.545s before the low fuel, soft tyre runs commenced.

A sluggish initial lap netted Oscar Piastri just a 1:18, with Norris recording a similar time when he flashed across the line moments later.

Max Verstappen demonstrated strong performance despite the low grip conditions, logging a 1:17.392s to go fastest.

Lewis Hamilton made a mistake on his flying lap, dropping some six seconds in the stadium complex as he remained down the order in 15th. Another effort netted the fifth fastest time.

Norris had also improved, his best a 1:17.643s, though that was still 0.251s away from the time set by Verstappen.

In the other Red Bull, Yuki Tsunoda messaged the team advising that he’d clattered the kerb at Turn 2. The Japanese driver had taken more of the apex kerb than intended, bottoming the car in the process.

Following the mid-session flurry, teams again settled back into their longer run programmes.

That left Verstappen fastest from Leclerc, who was 0.153s back from the Dutchman, then Antonelli and Norris to make for four different manufacturers in the top four positions.

In the final stanza of the session, there was a mix of tyres in use; Verstappen was on the mediums, while others were on the softs, with McLaren among those on the red-walled rubber.

The session ended with Verstappen fastest over Leclerc, Antonelli, Norris, and Hamilton in the top five, all covered by just three-tenths.

Championship leader Piastri was half a second slower, only 12th fastest after being unable to improve on his early single lap run.

There is hope, strong long run pace from McLaren, though Verstappen again looks a strong contender ahead of Sunday’s race.

Mexico City Grand Prix, Free Practice 2 results

1. Max Verstappen, Red Bull, 1:17.392
2. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, 1:17.545
3. Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes, 1:17.566
4. Lando Norris, McLaren, 1:17.643
5. Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, 1:17.692
6. George Russell, Mercedes, 1:17.829
7. Yuki Tsunoda, Red Bull, 1:17.883
8. Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin, 1:17.938
9. Carlos Sainz, Williams, 1:17.939
10. Lance Stroll, Aston Martin, 1:17.954
11. Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls, 1:18.218
12. Oscar Piastri, McLaren, 1:18.232
13. Esteban Ocon, Haas, 1:18.266
14. Isack Hadjar, Racing Bulls, 1:18.281
15. Gabriel Bortoleto, Sauber, 1:18.323
16. Nico Hulkenberg, Sauber, 1:18.348
17. Oliver Bearman, Haas, 1:18.442
18. Franco Colapinto, Alpine, 1:18.721
19. Alex Albon, Williams, 1:18.855
20. Pierre Gasly, Alpine, 1:19.194