As in many other events this season, Friday in Mexico City also ended with a Red Bull in front of everyone, in this case that of Max Verstappen. The Dutchman brought his RB19 to the top of the timesheet, preceding Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc by one tenth and around two and a half tenths respectively. However, turning our attention to the entire ranking, the first aspect that catches our attention is how compact the grid is, with the top ten enclosed in just over half a second, demonstrating that in qualifying the fight for access to the Q3 will be played on a razor’s edge for many teams.
On the eve of the Mexican stage, Verstappen had made no secret of the fact that this track would probably have reserved some more difficulties for the car from Milton Keynes compared to other events. But given the level of competitiveness he has shown this season, the three-time world champion was confident he could challenge for victory on Sunday, leaving a few more doubts about the challenge for pole position.
As far as pace is concerned, in fact, the Dutchman is not far from the best references set by Norris, even if there are several points to highlight. Verstappen had been among the first in FP1 to test the long-distance pace in the final part of the session, but reported problems with the left front after only seven laps, with difficulties also highlighted by understeer on the run. For this reason, during the break the Milton Keynes team intervened by modifying the set-up and planning a different approach in the first laps of the FP2 long run: slightly higher times at the beginning to maintain a more constant level. Only in the final laps was he asked to improve the pace and it was precisely at that moment that the Hasselt rider began to lap under one minute and twenty-three, taking several tenths off the previous references.
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB19
On the other hand, Norris completed his simulation with a new medium compound, a rather unusual aspect which however derives from the program followed by the Woking team with the use of prototype tyres. An advantage that is difficult to quantify, but observing the times it emerges that the Englishman proved to be much more aggressive in the first phase of the stint: only the first pass in 22.4 was completed in clean air, while already from the second attempt in then the McLaren driver found himself in traffic, using the DRS on several occasions to overtake Daniel Ricciardo and Lewis Hamilton in sequence, even getting into a duel with the latter to gain position.
Ferrari seems more detached, with the drivers not hiding a slight bitter aftertaste about how the day went, from which they expected something more. As on other occasions, the Red car seems closer on the flying lap than on the long distance, where a rather marked graining was found on the rear axle and, more specifically, on the left rear, thus negatively impacting the times which increased during the course of the race. run. The question mark remains over Mercedes, which had high expectations for the Mexican stage, given the more favorable characteristics of the W14: however, the Brackley car did not convince in the first days on the track, showing some signs of difficulty in exploiting the tyres, despite the two pilots went in different directions on the attitude. The feeling is that, for now, Mercedes is suffering more than other teams from not having found the ideal window and, with such a particular soft, night work will be important to identify which path to follow and make the classic leap forward from Friday to Saturday.
If on the pace there was a greater discrepancy in terms of gaps, on the single lap the grid seemed more compact, with the top ten within about half a second. Various elements weigh on the performance in the search for the time, starting from the progressive improvement of the track, but also the high temperatures of the track, which on Friday even exceeded 40°C before the rain arrived towards the end of FP2.
![Telemetry comparison Mexico FP2 - Verstappen Norris](https://cdn-2.motorsport.com/images/mgl/0oOBnd10/s1000/confronto-telemetrico-messico--1.jpg)
Photo by: Gianluca D’Alessandro
Telemetry comparison Mexico FP2 – Verstappen Norris
For the moment, Verstappen and Red Bull still stand as the points of reference as the RB19 appears to be overall the most balanced car during the lap, managing to prove itself competitive in several scenarios. Taking, for example, the top speeds on the main straight, we can see how Ferrari has a significant advantage which is evident not only in the top speeds, which are 3 km/h higher than the Red Bull and 8 km/h higher than the of McLaren, but also in the progression itself. This indicates that the gap built by the Red team extends over the entire stretch and not just in the final part as on other occasions.
Those who show some signs of suffering are precisely the Woking team, about which it is interesting to make a separate discussion: from the onboards it is clear that the MCL60 touches the asphalt more than other cars, with a setting in terms of heights from the ground that it seems more aggressive than that chosen by other teams. Although it is true that this probably helps to find load in driving and in slow corners, McLaren’s Achilles heel, touching the road surface so constantly with a high level of bottoming does not help in progression and with top speeds.
In the first chicane you can appreciate different behaviors depending on the phase you pay more attention to. Leclerc is more careful entering turn one to help set up the next one, while Norris is the most aggressive, also being the last to hit the brakes with a peremptory downshift. At the exit, however, the situation takes on a different scenario, because it is the acceleration of the SF-23 that reigns supreme once again, arriving at the braking point at turn four with a small, but significant, advantage.
![Lando Norris, McLaren MCL60](https://cdn-7.motorsport.com/images/mgl/2jXaLMP6/s1000/lando-norris-mclaren-mcl60-1.jpg)
Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Lando Norris, McLaren MCL60
The slow chicane 4-5 is probably the section in which McLaren’s difficulties emerge most clearly, with Ferrari being competitive instead. But if you also include turn seven in the entire sequence, it emerges why, at least on Friday, the RB19 proved to be the more balanced car. Even when exiting slow zones, such as from 5 or 6, Max Verstappen was able to open the accelerator before the others: more specifically, at six he sacrifices travel speed for a better line and more effective traction.
This discussion adds to what was seen in the fast sequence shown in the second sector, where Red Bull was not the absolute reference, but once again fits in the middle. The fastest was in fact the MCL60 which, especially in turn seven, managed to travel the stretch with a speed 9 km/h higher than the RB19 and by as much as 13 km/h when compared with the SF-23. A good behavior which does not come as a surprise, because in these driving sections McLaren has performed well for most of the season. In past years, in Turn 8 there was a tendency to make more use of the curb, but for now no one has yet proven to be particularly aggressive in this area and it will be interesting to see how much the drivers dare to get a better line to set up the immediately following section.
Observing the telemetry data, it emerges that Verstappen is the only one among the top teams capable of going straight through turn nine, therefore without the need to partialize like his rivals who, in fact, have a small gap of a few km/h. In turn ten, in fact, there are some differences in terms of setup: the Dutchman, who arrives with a greater speed, anticipates the deceleration phase to guarantee a good exit, while Charles Leclerc is much more aggressive on entry, taking advantage of the curbs are imported in a way. In fact, the references show how the Monegasque is also the slowest at the exit, but thanks to the good progression shown by the SF-23 he is able to recover and move forward before reaching the braking point in number 12.
![Telemetry comparison Mexico FP2 - Verstappen Leclerc](https://cdn-5.motorsport.com/images/mgl/6AEQKaw6/s1000/confronto-telemetrico-messico--1.jpg)
Photo by: Gianluca D’Alessandro
Telemetry comparison Mexico FP2 – Verstappen Leclerc
The stadium, probably the most scenic part of the entire route, is also the most complex to decipher, given that various elements are inserted. On the one hand there is a stretch of almost 140 km/h, i.e. the entrance to 12 towards 13, where McLaren and Ferrari showed a little more than Red Bull. On the other hand there are two slow corners where the speed drops below 100 km/h, including the hairpin of number 13, where the mechanical part and the grip provided by the tires play a key role: those who have used the tires excessively in the rest of the tour presumably will struggle more in this stretch.
Overall, you can see a very competitive and also very aggressive Red Bull on the curbs, more so than McLaren, which struggles in the traction phase to unload power especially when going through and exiting the last corner, which then leads onto the straight. Corners that also put Ferrari in difficulty, with the drivers complaining on Friday about excessive overheating of the soft compound, which is both fast and delicate in use.
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