Verstappen sets pace from Norris and Leclerc in muddled Mexico FP2

The three-time world champion was 0.119s quicker than McLaren’s in-form Lando Norris during the soft tyre runs at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, with Charles Leclerc 0.266 further back in his Ferrari. 

• F1 Mexico City Grand Prix 2023 - Friday Practice Results

Valtteri Bottas produced an eye-catching lap to slot his Alfa Romeo into fourth, just 0.269s slower than Verstappen’s benchmark, in a tightly-contested second practice that featured sporadic light rain showers.

The under-pressure Sergio Perez, cheered on by a raucous home crowd, languished three-tenths adrift of Red Bull teammate Verstappen in fifth. 

Daniel Ricciardo demonstrated an encouraging show of pace in his AlphaTauri to take sixth, ahead of Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes. 

Coming into the weekend Hamilton said that he believed Mercedes could challenge Verstappen for the second straight race, but the seven-time world champion will need to find more pace to turn that aim into reality after ending up 0.388s behind the Dutchman following a low-key start in FP1. 

Esteban Ocon took eighth in his Alpine, ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and the second Mercedes of George Russell, who sat out of the opening session while Frederik Vesti made his F1 practice debut. 

Just 0.541s separated the top 10 with less than a second covering the top 16 runners in a competitive and mixed up end to Friday’s running in Mexico City. 

After starring in FP1 by finishing a fraction slower than pacesetter Verstappen, Alex Albon slipped down to 14th for Williams. 

It was a difficult session for Aston Martin as Lance Stroll was hampered by a problematic wheel that became stuck to his car as he finished a lowly 18th. 

Meanwhile, a high-speed spin at Turn 10 left Fernando Alonso bottom of the timesheets and without a low-fuel, soft tyre run.