Verstappen pips Leclerc to top Mexico GP FP2

With conditions remaining hot and dusty at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, Verstappen showed no signs of his lack of track time hampering his performance during the practice session, topping the timesheets with a 1m17.392s.

All nine drivers who had sat out FP1 earlier in the day returned to their cockpits, but it was the driver who topped FP1 who put in the closest time to Verstappen, with Charles Leclerc finishing in second, just 0.153s off the Dutchman’s pace.

Kimi Antonelli showed solid pace as well, recovering from an earlier issue to finish third, narrowly pipping the first McLaren of Lando Norris, who was completing his first on-track running of the weekend.

The Italian had reported an issue on his out lap, with Mercedes instructing him to return to the pits immediately for checks. After sitting in the garage for a short period, he returned to the track with no apparent issues to set his time.

The top 16 runners were covered by less than a second, with the top 10 separated by just over half a second, highlighting how tight the field remains as the championship heads into the closing stages.

Oscar Piastri was one of those outside the top 10, however, with the Australian struggling throughout the session to match the pace of Norris.

He ended the session in 12th, four tenths off his teammate, and like in FP1 earlier in the day, he had a slight moment off track, losing the rear end of his McLaren entering Turn 5, with only a brief off costing him time.

Several other drivers also had brief offs as they came to grips with the dusty surface, including Verstappen, Norris, and Lewis Hamilton, who each experienced minor moments on the circuit but were able to recover without significant time loss.

Hamilton did enough to finish the session in fifth, ahead of George Russell in the second Mercedes, Yuki Tsunoda in the second Red Bull, and Fernando Alonso for Aston Martin.

Carlos Sainz and Lance Stroll rounded out the top 10, with Liam Lawson finishing just ahead of Piastri in 11th.

Esteban Ocon, Isack Hadjar, and the Saubers of Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg all ended the session within a second of Verstappen’s fastest time, while Oliver Bearman, Franco Colapinto, Alex Albon, and Pierre Gasly were the only four drivers more than a second off the pace as they completed the field.

With conditions expected to remain similar for the rest of the weekend, all eyes will remain on Verstappen as he continues his late championship surge and maintains his momentum heading into qualifying and the race.

Cars return to the track for FP3 at 11:30am local time on Saturday (4:30am AEDT Sunday).