We return to the traditional weekend in Mexico, with three rounds of free practice that allow teams and drivers to experiment ahead of qualifying and the race. The FP1 they ended with the best time of Max Verstappen, surprisingly followed by Alexander Albon in the Williams. There was no shortage of problems for Ferrari and Aston Martin. Let's see what happened in FP2 of the Mexican GP. Session kissed by sun, rain and uncertainty also given by the fact that several of them ran on test tyres. In this session, all 20 drivers returned to the track, including those who, in FP1, left their seat to a young rookie.
The test tires protagonists of the FP2 of the Mexican GP
Russell, Stroll and Alonso are the first to take to the track. With proto rubber, the first to impose himself on the group was again Alexander Albon with a time of 1:20.075. The former Red Bull started the weekend with great determination. Verstappen, Norris, Albon and Leclerc were the first drivers to mount the Pirelli test tyre, with a compound similar to the average. There were many variables during the weekend, between an evolving asphalt, the high altitude and the rarefied air, the high load. Max Verstappen takes the lead on the medium tire and meanwhile complains about a tear-off visor in the suspension. Ricciardo moves into second position with the test tire, two tenths behind Verstappen. AlphaTauri, like Williams, also started the weekend very well. The track continues to evolve and after 20 minutes, Leclerc rises to second position, one tenth behind Max Verstappen, Bottas rises to fifth position. The Monegasque did not feel comfortable with the SF-1 in FP23. It was on this track that the worst result for the team came last year.
Simulations with soft
After 25 minutes of action on the track, Fernando Alonso is the protagonist of a spectacular 360. Fortunately, the Spaniard lost control of the car at a point with no walls or barriers nearby and escaped with a scare. The red tires are also starting to take to the track. The first time with this compound is taken by Max Verstappen with 1:18.686, followed by Norris and Lewis Hamilton. Instead, the two Ferraris wait. Work was done on the anti-roll bar on Leclerc's SF-23. Meanwhile further back, Yuki Tsunoda he complains to his race engineer. The Japanese who will start from the back on Sunday, due to having changed power unit, is only eighteenth, while his teammate is fourth.
The first attempt with the soft Leclerc ended him in third place, almost 3 tenths from the top. Everyone is very close. The top 8 drivers – from 7 different teams – are collected within four tenths.
Race pace, good Leclerc, Norris and Hamilton
The approach of rain led the teams to switch to the race pace simulation with 20 minutes to go. The first to take to the track with the mediums is Max Verstappen followed by Oscar Piastri. A lot of degradation was seen in FP1, even on Max Verstappen's Red Bull. Some interesting data can be seen on the race pace. Lando Norris with a new set shows good pace. Hamilton's performance was also excellent, the only one to have 3 more laps on the same set as Leclerc who defended himself compared to Norris and the others. Despite the rain drops the teams continued working on the slick until the checkered flag.
At the end of FP2 on Mexico City GP Let's see the ranking of the session:
- Max Verstappen
- Lando Norris
- Charles Leclerc
- Valtteri Bottas
- Sergio Perez
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Lewis Hamilton
- Esteban Ocon
- Oscar piastri
- George Russell
- Carlos Sainz
- Yuki tsunoda
- Zhou Guangyu
- Alexander albon
- Nico Hulkenberg
- Pierre Gasly
- Logan sargeant
- Lance stroll
- Kevin Magnussen
- Fernando Alonso
