F1: Russell tops Practice 2 in Mexico City

With the majority of drivers testing 2023 tires for Pirelli, #63 Mercedes driver George Russell turned the fastest lap in practice 2 for the Mexico City GP with a lap of 1m19.970s on the regular Pirelli Red Soft tires.  Russell was one of 5 drivers not testing the 2023 tires.

Yuki Tsunoda was 2nd for Alpha Tauri, 0.828s behind.

Esteban Ocon was 3rd for Alpine, 1.207s off the pace.

But the times are not representative, given those three and Albon were the only drivers able to run their own practice programs to a certain extent.

Lewis Hamilton was the fastest driver on the test tires, 1.539s behind, giving Mercedes the fastest lap on the regular tires (Russell) as well as the test tires.

Sergio Perez rounded out the top-5 for Red Bull, 1.609s behind on the test tires.

Charles Leclerc wadded up his #16 Ferrari, backing it had into the barriers and wiping out the entire rear end.

Charles Leclerc wads up his #16 Ferrari

The FIA has confirmed an engine change for Kevin Magnussen. He receives a 5 place grid drop as a result.

Practice 2 Results

POS DRIVER NAT. TEAM TIME BEHIND
1 George Russell GBR Mercedes AMG Petronas 1m19.970s +0.000
2 Yuki Tsunoda JPN Scuderia AlphaTauri 1m20.798s +0.828
3 Esteban Ocon FRA BWT Alpine F1 Team 1m21.177s +1.207
4 Lewis Hamilton GBR Mercedes AMG Petronas 1m21.509s +1.539
5 Sergio Perez MEX Oracle Bull Racing 1m21.579s +1.609
6 Max Verstappen NED Oracle Red Bull Racing 1m21.588s +1.618
7 Charles Leclerc MON Scuderia Ferrari 1m21.618s +1.648
8 Carlos Sainz ESP Scuderia Ferrari 1m21.693s +1.723
9 Valtteri Bottas FIN Alfa Romeo F1 Team Orlen 1m21.993s +2.023
10 Pierre Gasly FRA Scuderia AlphaTauri 1m22.104s +2.134
11 Fernando Alonso ESP BWT Alpine F1 Team 1m22.337s +2.367
12 Sebastian Vettel GER Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant 1m22.371s +2.401
13 Alex Albon THA Williams Racing 1m22.447s +2.477
14 Lando Norris GBR McLaren F1 Team 1m22.738s +2.768
15 Daniel Ricciardo AUS McLaren F1 Team 1m22.763s +2.793
16 Lance Stroll CAN Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant 1m22.840s +2.870
17 Mick Schumacher GER Haas F1 Team 1m22.879s +2.909
18 Kevin Magnussen DEN Haas F1 Team 1m23.316s +3.346
19 Nicholas Latifi CAN Williams Racing 1m23.320s +3.350
20 Zhou Guanyu CHN Alfa Romeo F1 Team Orlen 1m23.369s  +3.399