F1: Verstappen tops Mexico City GP Practice 2

Max Verstappen turned a lap of 1m18.686s to top the 2nd practice session for the Mexico City GP in his #1 Red Bull Honda.

–by Mark Cipolloni–

All the drivers set their fast time on the soft Pirelli tires and low fuel. The 2nd half of the session was used for race setup with full fuel loads.  It was also slowed by light rain showers.

Red Bull has brought two new floor specifications for experimental purposes for the 2024 season.

These floors were run in the practice session(s) during the Mexican GP weekend and if proven faster, could be used in the race by Verstappen and Perez.

Lando Norris was 2nd quick in the #4 McLaren, 0.119s behind the Dutchman who also topped Practice 1.

Charles Leclerc put his #16 Ferrari in third, 0.266s behind

Valtteri Bottas was a surprise 4th fastest for Alfa Romeo, 0.269s back while Mexican favorite Sergio Perez rounded out the top-5 in the 2nd Red Bull Honda.

Daniel Ricciardo and Lewis Hamilton were 6th and 7th, booth beating their respective teammates comfortably.

Esteban Ocon, Oscar Piastri and George Russell rounded out the top-10.

A slightly more entertaining session, with plenty of action and a few mistakes to boot. The biggest of which was uncharacteristically from Alonso, who spun midway through after getting a bit of a snap. That meant he didn’t get a representative lap in on the softs, hence why he was dead last.

Will Verstappen stay in front on qualifying day when it matters, or can the rest mount a sustained charge and steal pole from the Dutchman?

And where will Perez find himself starting in front of his hoards of fans?

Practice 3 starts at 12:30pm ET Saturday.

Mexico City Practice 2 Results