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Max Verstappen returned to the cockpit in dominant fashion at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, topping the timesheets in Practice 2 for the Mexico City Grand Prix with a 1:17.392. The Dutchman, who sat out FP1, immediately looked comfortable in his upgraded Red Bull, edging Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc by just 0.153s, with Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli an impressive third.
Red Bull’s new floor appeared to deliver on its promise over a single lap, with Verstappen setting the pace despite later complaining about low grip on longer runs. The reigning champion’s confidence was evident — after his quickest lap on softs, he switched back to mediums for race simulations, signalling he felt no need to chase further time.
Leclerc continued his strong form from Austin, where he also looked competitive over one lap. The Monegasque’s SF-25 was hooked up through the twisty middle sector, and his pace suggests Ferrari could be a genuine pole threat. Antonelli, learning the Mexican circuit for the first time, slotted into third just 0.021s behind Leclerc, underlining Mercedes’ potential here.
Lando Norris rounded out the top four, only 0.251s off Verstappen, making it four different teams in the top four — a tantalising prospect for qualifying.
The major talking point was Oscar Piastri’s subdued performance. The championship leader could only manage 12th, over eight tenths adrift of Verstappen and well behind teammate Norris. An early soft-tyre run before peak track evolution, combined with a couple of scrappy laps, left him with no representative time to match the frontrunners. With Norris just 14 points behind in the standings, Piastri faces a crucial overnight reset.
Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll both showed encouraging pace for Aston Martin, finishing eighth and tenth respectively, while Yuki Tsunoda impressed in seventh in the second Red Bull. Williams’ Carlos Sainz was ninth, though his five-place grid penalty from Austin will complicate his Sunday.
The midfield remains tightly packed, with just half a second covering positions five to ten. Traffic was a recurring issue, with Antonelli notably baulked by Liam Lawson, hinting at potential qualifying headaches on this short 4.3km lap.
Pirelli’s non-sequential C2–C4–C5 allocation again made the hard tyre largely unappealing, pushing teams towards medium-soft strategies. Long-run data suggested the C5 soft could be viable in the race, with several drivers — including Norris, Colapinto, and Piastri — logging double-digit lap counts on the red-marked rubber.
However, as track temperatures dropped from their FP1 peak, grip levels fell away sharply, catching out even Verstappen, who had a dramatic slide late in the session.
With four teams within a quarter of a second, qualifying could be one of the most open of the season. Verstappen’s one-lap pace makes him favourite, but Leclerc’s confidence, Antonelli’s rapid adaptation, and Norris’ consistency mean the fight for pole is far from settled.
The key questions heading into Saturday:
The stage is set for a thrilling Saturday in Mexico City — and with the title fight tightening, every thousandth of a second will count.
He’s a software engineer with a deep passion for Formula 1 and motorsport. He co-founded Formula Live Pulse to make live telemetry and race insights accessible, visual, and easy to follow.
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