Max Verstappen tops second practice session for Mexican Grand Prix

After leading the way in the first running at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City, Verstappen – who has won 15 of the 18 rounds so far – set the fastest time in the day's concluding running.

The Red Bull driver finished 0.119 seconds clear of McLaren's Norris, with Charles Leclerc a quarter of a second back in his Ferrari.

Home favourite Sergio Perez finished fifth, three tenths behind Red Bull team-mate Verstappen, while Lewis Hamilton took seventh for Mercedes, a third of a second down.

Verstappen has dominated this year, and wrapped up his third successive world championship in Qatar earlier this month.

And the Dutchman will head into the remainder of the weekend in the breathless Mexico City air as the man to beat.

The high-altitude venue, which sits 2,200 metres above sea level, can often throw up anomalies, and Valtteri Bottas was a surprised fourth for Alfa Romeo, with Daniel Ricciardo sixth in his AlphaTauri, just three tenths off the top.

Hamilton finished a close second to Verstappen in the United States a week ago before he was disqualified for running an illegal floor on his Mercedes.

But despite his post-race exclusion, Hamilton hoped his speed in Austin would enable him to challenge Verstappen here.

However, the seven-time world champion failed to challenge the top of the leaderboard on Friday, finishing 11th and seventh respectively in the two sessions.

George Russell, who sat out the opening running as Mercedes blooded academy driver Frederik Vesti, finished 10th, half-a-second behind Verstappen.

Earlier on Friday, Ollie Bearman made history by becoming the youngest British driver to take part in a Formula One weekend.

Bearman, 18, competing for American outfit Haas, ended his F1 debut in 15th, only 1.6 sec slower than Verstappen and three tenths adrift of Nico Hulkenberg – a veteran of 200 grands prix – in the other Haas.

Bearman also finished one place ahead of double world champion Fernando Alonso.

F1 teams must run a rookie driver at least twice during the season and Chelmsford-born Bearman was handed his chance to impress, breaking the British record previously held by Norris.

Norris was three months shy of his 19th birthday when he took part in practice for McLaren in Belgium in 2018 before he was promoted to a race seat the following season. Bearman turned 18 in May.

The teenager, a member of the Ferrari academy, has taken four victories in F1's feeder series Formula Two and is sixth in the standings ahead of next month's season finale in Abu Dhabi.

Mexican Grand Prix - Free Practice 2 results:

1 Max VERSTAPPEN Red Bull 1:18.686
2 Lando NORRIS McLaren +0.119
3 Charles LECLERC Ferrari +0.266
4 Valtteri BOTTAS Alfa Romeo +0.269
5 Sergio PEREZ Red Bull +0.302
6 Daniel RICCIARDO AlphaTauri +0.316
7 Lewis HAMILTON Mercedes +0.338
8 Esteban OCON Alpine +0.391
9 Oscar PIASTRI McLaren +0.477
10 George RUSSELL Mercedes +0.541
11 Carlos SAINZ Ferrari +0.571
12 Yuki TSUNODA AlphaTauri +0.604
13 Guanyu ZHOU Alfa Romeo +0.729
14 Alexander ALBON Williams +0.760
15 Nico HULKENBERG Haas +0.849
16 Pierre GASLY Alpine +0.956
17 Logan SARGEANT Williams +1.214
18 Lance STROLL Aston Martin +1.389
19 Kevin MAGNUSSEN Haas +1.426
20 Fernando ALONSO Aston Martin +1.740

 

Read More: Mexico Grand Prix FP1 results: Max Verstappen top of the pops (planetsport.com)