Mexico GP: Verstappen sweeps Friday practice as fastest driver despite light drizzle

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen completed a clean sweep of Friday’s practice as the three-time world champion stood as the fastest man in Free Practice 2, ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris.

In a similar instance to the first practice session, at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, it provided another opportunity to give the teams and Pirelli a chance to test the prototype tyre which was highlighted by an unmarked sidewall. 

For FP2, many drivers returned to the track equipped with the prototype whereas a handful of cars were out on their allotted tyres for the opening stints. But it wasn’t long before the red-walled soft Pirelli tyres were introduced for qualifying runs. 

As the teams continued to figure out their optimal set-ups and continued to gather key data for the grand prix, rain began to drizzle onto the track. However, the rain quickly subsided and briefly returned but it was not enough to force the drivers onto the wet compounds which left the team’s practice programmes unchanged. 

How second practice ended…

Verstappen remained as the fastest driver out on track with a 1:18.686 despite the brief drizzling spells of rain as Norris and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc finished just behind, in second and third, within two-tenths of a second. 

Compared to the earlier session, the rest of the top 10 was tighter at the end of Friday’s running. 

Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas finished fourth in his first outing in Mexico after a handful of teams ran rookies in the first practice session. Red Bull’s Sergio Perez completed the top five as the home hero sat three-tenths behind his teammate’s pace. 

Alpha Tauri’s Daniel Ricciardo, Mercedes Lewis Hamilton and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon finished sixth, seventh and eighth respectively, all drivers were within four-tenths of Verstappen’s benchmark time. McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Mercedes’ George Russell completed the top 10. 

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz topped the bottom 10, in 11th, with five-tenths separating the Spaniard from the Dutch pacesetter. Yuki Tsunoda (Alpha Tauri), Gunayu Zhou (Alfa Romeo), Alexander Albon (Williams) and Nico Hulkenberg (Haas) rounded out the top 15 drivers. 

Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, another driver to endure his first outing on the Mexican circuit, was the last driver to stay within a second of Verstappen’s best time. The French driver finished FP2 in 16th, 0.956s behind the Red Bull. 

Williams’ Logan Sargeant, on the back of his maiden point-scoring race in Austin last time out, finished the session in 17th ahead of Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Haas’ Kevin Magnussen, in 18th and 19th respectively. 

Aston Martin’s two-time world champion, Fernando Alonso completed the field of drivers at the bottom of the order in 20th, 1.7s off Verstappen’s pace.

That’s all for the article; Mexico GP: Verstappen sweeps Friday practice as fastest driver despite light drizzle!

Read more Formula 1 here:

• Mexico GP: Verstappen fastest as Albon slips in 0.095s behind
• RACE REPORT: Verstappen takes 50th win at United States GP with brake issues
• Hamilton and Leclerc disqualified from the US Grand Prix
• Verstappen holds off Hamilton’s late charge to take 50th win in F1 US GP
• US GP: Verstappen secures Sprint Race win with ease with 8s over Hamilton
• US GP: Verstappen pole redemption as top three separated by 0.069s

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Kamron Kent

Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.

I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.

Kamron Kent

Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.