Max Verstappen topped second practice for the Mexico City Grand Prix as championship leader Oscar Piastri’s struggles continued as he finished only 12th.
Verstappen was one of nine drivers to skip first practice as most teams fielded rookie drivers to meet the rules, but he was immediately on the pace, beating Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc by 0.153s.
Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli overcame an early problem to be third ahead of Lando Norris, who was 0.251 seconds behind pacesetter Verstappen.
Piastri was the only protagonist to run in first practice, but his extra track time did not translate into strong pace as he finished 0.840 seconds behind the Dutchman.
The result of the session was in line with the last four rounds, with Verstappen making big inroads in the title race to trail Piastri by 40 points with five rounds remaining, while Norris is just 14 points behind his McLaren team-mate.
Red Bull are the only team with a performance upgrade this weekend as they brought a revised version of their Monza floor which marked the start of Verstappen’s championship run at the start of September.
Yuki Tsunoda was seventh, underscoring Red Bull’s strong pace as he has regularly finished outside the top 10 on a Friday this year.
Lewis Hamilton set his best lap on the softs with his second effort but was just three tenths behind Verstappen at a track where Ferrari scored their last victory 12 months ago.
George Russell, who briefly watched first practice from the stands, was sixth, with Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso in eighth and his team-mate Lance Stroll in 10th.
Carlos Sainz continued his strong form in ninth, while his teammate Alex Albon was the only driver to touch the barrier when he glanced the outside wall in the final corner.
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Lewis Hamilton and George Russell battled for grip in the same corner, nearly hitting the corner signs in practice two ahead of the Mexico City GP
Verstappen ‘concerned’ about race pace
Verstappen, seeking to emulate Michael Schumacher’s record of five consecutive titles, has converted three pole positions from the last four races into victory to ignite an incredible turnaround.
Red Bull’s lack of race pace during the European races this summer was their biggest deficit to McLaren and Verstappen warned he needed to find something on the long runs after it felt like “driving on ice”.
“On the short run on the soft we managed to do a good lap, everything else was pretty bad,” he said.
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Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies gives his thoughts on Max Verstappen’s rising championship push ahead of the Mexico City Grand Prix
“The in-between short runs wasn’t great and the big problem is long runs where we seemed to struggle a lot. So that’s obviously a big concern for the race.
“The balance wasn’t even out, there was just no grip – that’s the biggest concern. As soon as you go into a sustained race, the tires get hot. We were nowhere, so that’s also hard to fix, but we’ll see.
“You’re not going to win the race that way. You can be fast over a lap, but if you have absolutely zero pace in the race, it’s going to be very tough. So I prefer to be fast in the race and not so fast over a lap.”
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The F1 Podcast team discuss Max Verstappen’s title chances ahead of the Mexico City GP
Team principal Laurent Mekies insists Red Bull are still taking things “race by race” and not thinking about the championship.
Mekies told Sky Sports F1: “I don’t think we should devalue what we did in Austin. It’s hard to win races, Max did a mega weekend and everyone is super happy about that.
“Everyone back in Milton Keynes is pushing hard and that gives us an added incentive. We’re not looking at the championship classification, we’re looking at it session by session.
“It is a positive pressure [for Verstappen]. I don’t think anyone pushes harder than him. We try to extract everything we can. The commitment is there.”
Sky Sports F1’s Mexico City GP schedule
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Look back at some of the most dramatic moments that have taken place at the Mexico City Grand Prix
Saturday 25 October
18.15: Mexico City GP Practice 3 (session starts at 18.30)
21:00: Mexico City GP Qualifying Build-up*
22:00: MEXICO CITY GP QUALIFYING*
Sunday, October 26
18.30: Grand Prix Sunday: Mexico City GP build-up*
20:00: MEXICO CITY GRAND PRIX*
22:00: Checkered flag: Mexico City GP reaction
*also on Sky Sports Main Event
Formula 1’s thrilling title race continues at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez for the Mexico City Grand Prix this weekend, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime