The music doesn’t change on the flying lap: Max Verstappen also ended the second free practice session of the Mexican GP in command with a time of 1’18″686 obtained on the soft tyres, but Red Bull didn’t impress with race pace , not being particularly fast in the long run. Sergio Perez, pushed by his home crowd, did not impress in the qualifying simulation and was satisfied with only fifth performance, 302 thousandths behind his teammate, but the Mexican then made up for it in the long run, proving faster than the three-time world champion. And this is already news that breaks the usual patterns.
Behind the Red Bull, less precise than usual in the transitions, Lando Norris’s McLaren emerged and arrived only 119 thousandths behind the Dutchman. The Englishman gave the sensation of being competitive even in the race simulation, while Oscar Piastri did not go beyond ninth place, almost half a second from the top. The MCL60s seem able to express themselves on the values to which they have accustomed us in recent appearances, but Ferrari is also looking at the weekend at high altitude with a certain optimism.
Charles Leclerc is third with the red with 1’18″805: the Monegasque suffered a bit of graining in the front left after a rain shower which forced the Ferrari driver to raise his pace, whereas previously with the asphalt dry and hotter the SF-23 seemed well balanced. Carlos Sainz did not impress as he finished 11th with the second red relegated to over second place and struggling with a broken rear-view mirror.
Valtteri Bottas finally seemed to be in form and lifted Alfa Romeo to fourth place, just three thousandths behind Leclerc’s Ferrari: the Finn, who had skipped the first round to leave the car to Pourcher who didn’t turn, immediately found a good feeling on the C43. Valtteri put himself in front of Perez and a rediscovered Daniel Ricciardo who was really in top form with AlphaTauri. The Australian did well, marking a big difference with Yuki Tsunoda, relegated to just three tenths of a second in 12th place.
The Mercedes did not impress in the qualifying set-up: Lewis Hamilton, for a change, is ahead of George Russell by a couple of tenths. The seven-time world champion is seventh on the time list, but showed excellent pace in the long run, confirming that the black arrow is better in the race than in qualifying, while he struggles in the flying lap. Russell closes the top ten without enthusiasm, given that both Esteban Ocon with Alpine, who has very open bellies to safeguard the Renault power unit, and Oscar Piastri with McLaren precede him.
Guanyu Zhou is 13th in the Alfa Romeo ahead of Alex Albon in the Williams, with Logan Sargeant only 17th in the other FW45. Nico Hulkenberg is 15th with the revised and corrected Haas, while Kevin Magnussen struggled only 19th.
Aston Martin does badly: Lance Stroll confirms himself ahead of Fernando Alonso, last with the “Verdona”. The Spaniard was the author of a cross and was able to get the car back without crashing. He was very good at catching the AMR23, but the car is very nervous and difficult to drive.
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