@ScuderiaFerrari’s #Vettel quickest in #MexicanGP Free Practice 2. #F1 #F1ESTA
Sebastian Vettel, #5, Scuderia Ferrari, SF90 in action during Free Practice Two at the Formula 1 Gran Premio De Mexico 2019, Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, Mexico City, Mexico. Image credit to LAT Sutton Images.
Sebastian Vettel ended Free Practice 2 on top of the time-sheets at the Mexican GP as Red Bull’s Max Verstappen split the Ferrari pairing to take second place.
Vettel jumped to the top in the early stages with the yellow side-walled C3 Pirelli medium rubber, posting a time of a 1:17.960 to lead team-mate Charles Leclerc by 0.223 seconds.
This meant that Ferrari locked-out the top two positions before the session was red flagged after Red Bull Racing’s Alexander Albon crashed 15 minutes into the session.
Albon spun his Honda-powered RB15 racer when he turned in on the fast left hand turn seven that begins the esses sequence of corners and whacked the wall with the right-rear corner.
The right-front then took a big impact as the car pivoted, with the 90 minute session stopped for 18 minutes as the Red Bull was cleared.
The Ferrari duo remained in the garages when FP2 resumed, which allowed Verstappen and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton to move into second and third using medium tyres.
But Leclerc and Vettel were the first of the front-running drivers to head out on the softer rubber for their qualifying simulation runs.
Leclerc moved to the top with a 1:17.072, only for team-mate Vettel to eclipse the Monegasque-youngster by 0.465 seconds moments later having been the fastest in all three sectors at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
This meant Leclerc’s second place was under threat and Verstappen later set a 1:16.722 to split the Ferrari duo and grab second place.
Leclerc suffered a spin in the high-speed esses section in the latter stages whilst running the mediums, but was able to continue.
Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas who spun at the right hander leading into the stadium section earlier into the hour and a half session after a lock-up on entry, ended the day fourth quickest.
The Japanese Grand Prix winner was 0.614 adrift of Vettel’s benchmark and was 0.349 seconds quicker than Mercedes team-mate Hamilton who completed the top five.
Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat was sixth fastest on the time-sheets and pipped team-mate Pierre Gasly after the Russian was among the final drivers to post their qualifying simulation flyers.
Gasly was rapid on the medium rubber, setting a 1:18.003, which at one stage saw him high as third, but the Frenchman fell to seventh after he was unable to improve on the fresher tyres.
McLaren’s Carlos Sainz ended FP2 in eighth place and was two tenths quicker than Renault’s ninth-placed Nico Hulkenberg.
The second McLaren of Lando Norris rounded out the top ten 1.742 seconds off of Vettel’s benchmark and was narrowly 0.013 seconds quicker than Racing Point’s 11th-placed Lance Stroll.
Home Grand Prix hero Sergio Perez was only 0.004 seconds slower than his Racing Point team-mate in 12th and finished the day in-front of 13th-placed Renault of Daniel Ricciardo.
Alfa Romeo Racing’s Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi finished the day in 14th and 16th as Haas F1 Team’s Romain Grosjean split the pairing in 15th and Kevin Magnussen was 17th.
The two ROKit Williams Racing FW42’s of George Russell and Robert Kubica were 18th and 19th respectively with the aforementioned Albon ending at the rear.
You can see the full Formula 1 Gran Premio De Mexico 2019 Free Practice 2 Results Classification at the link: https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2019/races/1017/mexico/practice-2.html
You can catch up on Free Practice 1, the Mexican GP edition of F1 Newsbites and this weekend’s race preview at the following links:
@LewisHamilton edges @Charles_Leclerc in #MexicanGP FP1. #F1 #F1ESTA
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