The Free practice session 2 of the Mexican Grand prix is over with Ferrari and Carlos sainz being at the top of the grid followed by Oscar Piastri and Yuki Tsunoda. Just 10 minutes into the session Mercedes driver George Russell who was the FP1 leader had a big crash and was out immediately.
This session was very different from normal free practice as we had an extended period of 90 minutes from the regular 60 minutes due to Pirelli’s tyre testing. The Italian Tyre manufacturer was testing its new range tyres which are going to be used for the 2025 season.
FP2 Session Info
Good Sainz for Ferrari this weekend 👏
— Formula 1 (@F1) October 25, 2024
Carlos tops FP2, with just a thousandth between Oscar and Yuki behind 😁#F1 #MexicoGP pic.twitter.com/nUFXNRby81
Carlos Sainz's teammate Charles Leclerc of Ferrari finished fourth as his car recovered from the big crash that happened during Free practice session 1 involving Alex Albon and Ollie Bearman. Championship contender Lando Norris was fifth quickest followed by Kevin Magnussen and Lewis Hamilton.
Valtteri Bottas was the eighth quickest and Red Bull's Sergio Perez improved from one position and came ninth. Liam Lawson finished 10th in the grid. The other drivers are Fernando Alonso at 11th, Nico Hulkenberg at 12th, Esteban Ocon at 13th, Lance Stroll at 14th, Franco Colapinto at 15th, Pierre Gasly at 16th, Zhou Guanyu at 17th, George Russell at 18th, Max verstappen at 19th and Alex Albon at 20th.
Verstappen and Albon were last as they didn't put any lap time on the board. Albon was out due to the earlier crash he was involved in during the FP1. Max verstappen had some engine issues which are still under repair so he was out of the session. He heard some weird noise in the engine during his out lap so he was brought back to the garage.
As the session was nearing its end, Leclerc, Norris and Hamilton tried very hard to get past Carlos sainz but none of them could do. The third and final Practice sessions will be held on Saturday followed by qualifying. FP3 will be the final chance for teams to examine all the data they have collected during their practice runs and make a good strategy for the race. Max verstappen is the championship leader sitting at the top with 57 points lead over McLaren’s Lando Norris.