F1 Mexico GP: Charles Leclerc narrowly edges out McLaren and Mercedes to secure the fastest time in FP2.

Charles Leclerc enjoyed an exceptional Friday at the Mexico Grand Prix, finishing first in the second Formula 1 practice session, even with Ferrari teammate Lewis Hamilton's retirement. 

The Monegasque driver led FP1 with a time of 1m18.128s and improved that to 1m17.827s in FP2 at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, edging out McLaren’s Lando Norris, who took second.

Norris was among 10 drivers who had their car driven by a ‘rookie’ during the opening practice, but the lineup returned to its usual format for FP2, with many drivers quickly hitting the track for the one-hour session.

All three tire compounds were utilized early on, with medium-shod Hamilton initially clocking a 1m18.741s, 0.498s faster than Piastri in second place on hard tires in his McLaren. 

However, similar to FP1, track evolution played a crucial role at the low-grip circuit as Leclerc swiftly surpassed his teammate’s mark by 0.484s with a time of 1m18.257s. 

This was achieved on medium tires, while Max Verstappen, utilizing softs, topped the early charts with a 1m19.312s before causing a red flag in the 15th minute.

The Red Bull driver engaged in a wheel-to-wheel battle with Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson in the stadium sector, leading to a significant incident that scattered debris across the track.

The session was paused for five minutes until green flag conditions resumed, with medium runner Kimi Antonelli quickly slotting in between the Ferrari duo with a time of 1m18.559s, just 0.302s behind Leclerc.

Leclerc later appeared poised to further extend his lead on soft tires, achieving the fastest times in the first two sectors, but he went wide through the stadium and had to abandon his lap.

This misstep cost him the top spot as reigning champion Norris, also on softs, climbed to first place after 25 minutes with a time of 1m18.161s, shortly before Leclerc locked up at Turn 1 and had to abort yet another lap. 

Piastri then moved ahead of the Ferrari drivers with a 1m18.896s on softs, just as Hamilton began to experience power loss down the main straight and came to a stop at the exit of Turn 3 after 28 minutes.

The seven-time world champion triggered a brief VSC, but lap times began to drop significantly in the second half as Leclerc improved the benchmark again, now with a time of 1m17.966s, 0.195s faster.

Leclerc further enhanced his time on the following lap, achieving 1m17.827s, which was 0.103s quicker than Norris in second, who had turned his MCL40 over to Leonardo Fornaroli for FP1. 

With 20 minutes remaining, the soft-tire runs concluded as drivers transitioned to high-fuel configurations, a change that did not sit well with outgoing Haas driver Esteban Ocon.

The Frenchman expressed his frustration to race engineer Laura Mueller, saying “don’t do that to me” when she suggested switching to medium tires, though the change ultimately took place. 

Nevertheless, the late high-fuel runs ensured that Leclerc remained the pace setter ahead of Norris’ 1m17.930s, putting the 26-year-old just 0.003s ahead of third-placed George Russell.

His Mercedes teammate Antonelli finished just behind with a time of 1m18.044s, ahead of Verstappen (1m18.138s) in fifth and Isack Hadjar (1m18.237s) in sixth driving the sister Red Bull.

Racing Bulls secured seventh with rookie Arvid Lindblad (1m18.389s), while Alpine’s Pierre Gasly (1m18.407s), Lawson (1m18.455s), and Piastri (1m18.469s) rounded out the top 10.

Photos from Mexican GP - Friday

F1 Mexico GP results - FP2