Max Verstappen took the lead in the second practice of the Mexico City Grand Prix, which included all of the top four teams.
Having missed FP1 to give junior Arvid Lindblad a spin, Verstappen’s speed remained intact and the Dutchman surged into the lead with a solo run on soft tires and a fastest lap of 1:17.545. However, he was not entirely satisfied with the afternoon’s results, reporting that the car’s grip was “terrible” and “like running on ice” during long runs on medium tires, complaints typical of high-altitude circuits where downforce is limited by the thin atmosphere.
Charles Leclerc, who set the fastest time in the first session, followed the reigning champion by 0.153 seconds in Ferrari’s separate competitive practice session. Andrea Kimi Antonelli finished third, with his fastest lap just 0.021 seconds slower than Leclerc. However, the Italian rookie recorded a slower fastest time than the others and could have taken advantage of slightly better track conditions as a result.
Lando Norris had four teams in the top four, but the Brit’s session was anything but simple. After missing FP1 to run Pato O’Ward’s car, Norris almost immediately reported a power unit misfire, with power spiking as he headed to the circuit. Although the team resolved the problem, Norris’ first flying lap was compromised in the final sector, losing half a second. He made up for his mistake by doing a second flying lap on the same set of softs and moved up to fourth place, 0.251 seconds off the lead. However, he did better than teammate Oscar Piastri, finishing the session in 12th place, 0.84 seconds off the pace.
The title leader was similarly 0.5 seconds off the pace on his first flying lap, which was lost due to a slip in the middle sector, but he appeared unable to complete his second flying lap on the soft before entering the long run simulation, leaving him with a less-than-representative time and dropping significantly in the standings. McLaren further differentiated itself by having both drivers tackle long runs on soft tyres, rather than the medium compound used by all other top teams.
Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton was fifth, 0.3 seconds behind the leader. He led George Russell in the second Mercedes, who was a further 0.137s behind, and Yuki Tsunoda, who was firmly in the sharp end but was 0.491s slower than his session-leading teammate.
Best of the midfielders was Fernando Alonso, with the Aston Martin driver 0.546 seconds off the pace. This was enough to beat Williams driver and 2024 Mexican winner Carlos Sainz by 0.001 seconds. Lance Stroll finished in the top 10, just 0.016 seconds behind his Aston Martin teammate.
Liam Lawson finished 11th as Racing Bulls’ fastest driver despite missing FP1. He led Piastri, Haas driver Esteban Ocon and teammate Izak Hajar in the second RB car. Sauber team-mates Gabriel Bortleto and Nico Hulkenberg showed no pace in FP1, finishing a close 15th and 16th, a difference of 0.931s and 0.956s respectively. Oliver Bearman followed in 17th place, with the Briton more than a second off the pace, followed by Franco Colapinto, Alex Albon and Pierre Gasly at the bottom of the timesheets.
