Max Verstappen topped the FP2 session during the Mexican Grand Prix weekend, showcasing a substantial lap time advantage over championship rivals Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. The Dutch driver once again demonstrated his strong pace at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, where he currently holds the upper hand.
The FP2 session was notable as it marked the first time all three championship contenders—Verstappen, Norris, and Piastri—were on track together. Earlier in the day, Norris and Verstappen had ceded their FP1 outings to rookies Pato O’Ward and Arvid Lindblad, respectively. This made Verstappen the only contender to have completed a track session twice during the weekend.
Reflecting on his performance in FP2, Oscar Piastri, who finished 12th in the timing charts, shared candid thoughts:
“I think, yeah, the lap on softs and low fuel was pretty average, so I’m not surprised with the lap time. I think we tried a lot of things; we’ll go through and have a look at what worked, what didn’t, but overall I felt reasonable. We’ll see what we can tune up for tomorrow and try and make things just a bit more consistent—that’s the biggest thing.”
Meanwhile, Lando Norris had a better outing in the McLaren MCL39, ending the session in fourth place, about a quarter of a second off Verstappen’s fastest time.
“It’s the same as the last few weeks, just single lap stuff we’re struggling with at the minute. We’re working hard. We’re trying everything we can, so we’ll see what we can find,” Norris remarked.
Max Verstappen, notably, is the only contender among the championship trio to have previously won the Mexican Grand Prix. He has claimed victory at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez five times—in 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022, and 2023.
### Verstappen Raises Concerns for Red Bull Ahead of the Mexican GP
Despite topping FP2, Verstappen expressed concerns about his car’s performance, particularly over longer runs. While his single-lap pace was strong, the Red Bull’s speed dropped off significantly during sustained runs.
“That is the bigger concern. As soon as you go in a sustainable run, tyres are going hot. We were nowhere,” Verstappen explained. “That’s a tough one to sort out but we’ll see.”
As the Mexican GP weekend progresses, all eyes will be on whether Red Bull can address these issues to maintain Verstappen’s dominance on this challenging circuit.
https://www.sportskeeda.com/f1/news-under-pressure-mclaren-duo-reacts-max-verstappen-makes-statement-fp2-f1-mexican-gp