Lando Norris replaced Alex Albon as Red Bull’s latest challenger as Max Verstappen continued to set the pace in second practice for the 2023 Mexican Grand Prix.
important moment
- McLaren rises to 2nd place
- Perez is only 5th
- Albon falls outside the top 10
Verstappen improved his time by more than a second compared to FP1, finishing Friday with a best time of 1 minute 18.686 seconds, 0.119 seconds faster than McLaren driver Norris.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc set the third fastest time, within two-tenths of Verstappen’s pace, while Valtteri Bottas, who qualified in the top six here last year, gave Theo Pulchere command of the car in FP1. After the restart, Alfa Romeo jumped into the top four.
Sergio Perez was the last driver to run under 1 minute 19 seconds in the session, finishing fifth, just over three tenths off Verstappen’s pace.
Daniel Ricciardo continued his strong start this weekend, setting AlphaTauri’s sixth fastest time, but he was only 0.014 seconds slower than Perez’s Red Bull and far behind Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes and Esteban Ocon’s Alpine. It took less than 10 seconds.
Oscar Piastri was the first to fit soft tires in his qualifying simulation. He briefly recorded the fastest time with a lap of 1 minute 19.163 seconds, but his McLaren fell back to ninth as other teams gained time.
George Russell took back his Mercedes from Frederic Vesti and finished in the top ten ahead of Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari, Hiroki Tsunoda’s AlphaTauri and Chou Guanyu’s Alfa Romeo.
Albon surprised his team by setting Williams’ second-fastest time in FP1, but despite being nearly half a second faster than teammate Logan Sargent, he was only 14th in FP2, seven tenths off the pace. It didn’t come close.
Aston Martin endured a difficult session. Lance Stroll had the 18th fastest time before his front left tire stuck and he was stranded in the pits, while Fernando Alonso suffered a high-speed 360-degree spin at Esse, making him the slowest of the 20 runners and 1.7 off the pace. More than a second late. .
Results of exercise 2
position | name | car | best time | gap leader |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | max verstappen | red bull | 1 minute 18.686 seconds | |
2 | land norris | mclaren mercedes | 1 minute 18.805 seconds | +0.119 seconds |
3 | charles leclerc | ferrari | 1 minute 18.952 seconds | +0.266 seconds |
Four | valtteri bottas | alfa romeo ferrari | 1 minute 18.955 seconds | +0.269 seconds |
Five | Sergio Perez | red bull | 1 minute 18.988 seconds | +0.302 seconds |
6 | Daniel Ricardo | AlphaTauri Honda RBPT | 1 minute 19.002 seconds | +0.316 seconds |
7 | lewis hamilton | mercedes | 1 minute 19.024 seconds | +0.338 seconds |
8 | Esteban Ocon | alpine renault | 1 minute 19.077 seconds | +0.391 seconds |
9 | Oscar Piastri | mclaren mercedes | 1 minute 19.163 seconds | +0.477 seconds |
Ten | george russell | mercedes | 1 minute 19.227 seconds | +0.541 seconds |
11 | Carlos Sainz | ferrari | 1 minute 19.257 seconds | +0.571 seconds |
12 | Hiroki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri Honda RBPT | 1 minute 19.290 seconds | +0.604 seconds |
13 | Zhou Guanyu | alfa romeo ferrari | 1 minute 19.415 seconds | +0.729 seconds |
14 | Alex Albon | williams-mercedes | 1 minute 19.446 seconds | +0.760 seconds |
15 | Nico Hulkenberg | haas ferrari | 1 minute 19.535 seconds | +0.849 seconds |
16 | Pierre Gasly | alpine renault | 1 minute 19 seconds 642 | +0.956 seconds |
17 | sergeant logan | williams-mercedes | 1 minute 19.900 seconds | +1.214 seconds |
18 | Lance Stroll | aston martin mercedes | 1 minute 20 seconds 075 seconds | +1.389 seconds |
19 | Kevin Magnussen | haas ferrari | 1 minute 20 seconds 112 seconds | +1.426 seconds |
20 | Fernando Alonso | aston martin mercedes | 1 minute 20 seconds 426 | +1.740 seconds |