#MexicanGP FP2: @Max33Verstappen tops time-sheets ahead of @ValtteriBottas. #F1

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was fastest in the afternoon FP2 session at the Mexican GP ahead of Mercedes duo Valtteri Bottas and title-rival Lewis Hamilton.

After ending opening practice 0.123 seconds behind pace-setter Bottas in FP1 at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, Verstappen hit back with a comfortable session-topping margin in FP2.

Verstappen set the pace early on the C3 yellow-marked medium tyres, running over a second clear of the pack at one stage of proceedings and ended the initial stint with a 0.7 second gap to Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez.

The Driver’s Championship leader was able to hold his advantage after switching over to the quicker C4 red side-walled softer rubber for the qualifying simulation runs, setting the best effort of a 1:17.301 on his opening hot-lap halfway through the hour-long session.

It was enough for the Dutchman to hold P1 in-front of Bottas, who finished 0.424 seconds behind the Red Bull driver after improving on his second flyer on the softs to move up one place ahead of Mercedes team-mate Hamilton.

Hamilton was a further 0.085 seconds off of Bottas after a difficult session, which saw the seven-time world champion struggle with traffic in the early stages, reporting to his team that it was “insane” as drivers tried to find a comfortable spot on track.

Hamilton then had his quick effort from his initial run on hard rubber invalidated after it was set due to double-waved yellows, but recovered to finish FP2 in third place, 0.570 seconds adrift of title-rival Verstappen.

Home Grand Prix favourite Perez ended the afternoon in fourth place in the other Honda-powered Red Bull RB16B entry after also finding time on his second flying lap on his set of softs.

Ferrari’s high downforce strengths showed promise at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in FP2 with Carlos Sainz leading the midfield in fifth place, in-front of AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly.

A second hot-lap on his set of soft rubber allowed the Spaniard to jump ahead of Gasly, and finished three-tenths clear of Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc in seventh place, who said at the end of the afternoon running that he was “struggling so much with the engine issues.”

Scuderia AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda momentarily ran as high as second in the order after being one of the first drivers to post a time on the soft tyres during the qualifying simulation runs with the Japanese driver setting the eighth quickest effort.

Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel was ninth after a small mix-up in the pit-lane, which saw him park his AMR21 racer short of his waiting mechanics, mistakenly stopping by another team-member, whilst Alpine F1 Team’s Fernando Alonso completed the top ten.

Alfa Romeo Racing’s Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi finished FP2 in 11th and 13th respectively with McLaren’s Lando Norris splitting the duo.

Norris wound up 12th as McLaren failed to feature in the top ten for the second consecutive session.

Alpine F1 Team’s Esteban Ocon ended FP2 in 14th place on the time-sheets, as the Frenchman struggled during the session, reporting that his A521 racer was “turning itself” as he finished seven tenths off of team-mate Alonso.

The other McLaren of Daniel Ricciardo finished the day in 15th, but was hit with a gearbox issue, only completing seven laps and finished ahead of Haas F1 Team’s Mick Schumacher who was 16th and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll who completed the session in 17th.

Williams Racing’s Nicholas Latifi and George Russell ended the day in 18th and at the rear with Haas F1 Team’s Nikita Mazepin splitting the pairing in 19th.

Russell also suffered a gearbox problem and was unable to post a time.

You can see the full Formula 1 Gran Premio La Ciudad De Mexico 2021 Free Practice 2 Classification at the link: https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2021/races/1103/mexico/practice-2.html

#MexicanGP FP1: @ValtteriBottas leads @MercedesAMGF1 one-two. #F1

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