Vettel heads Verstappen, Hamilton a second down in Mexico FP2

Sebastian Vettel beat Max Verstappen to the fastest time in second practice for the Mexican Grand Prix, as Formula 1 championship leader Lewis Hamilton finished a second off the pace.

Vettel unleashed some of Ferrari’s anticipated potential by lapping the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez circuit in 1m16.607s on Soft tyres to outpace Verstappen - who has won the last two races in Mexico - by 0.115s in a session disrupted by a hefty crash for Alexander Albon.

Verstappen was able to split the Ferrari duo in his Red Bull, with Charles Leclerc ending up third-quickest and some 0.465s adrift of his teammate. The Monegasque also suffered two spins in what was a scruffy session compared to FP1.

As Mercedes had feared coming into the weekend, it struggled to match the pace of its rivals throughout the second 90-minute practice session, with Japanese Grand Prix winner Valtteri Bottas over six-tenths down in fourth. 

Despite an early spin, Bottas was three-tenths quicker than Hamilton, who ended up nearly a full second down on Vettel on a weekend he can seal a sixth drivers’ world title. The Briton needs to out-score Bottas by at least 14 points if he is to wrap up the 2019 championship with three races to spare.

It was a strong session for Toro Rosso, with Daniil Kvyat less than two-tenths behind Hamilton in sixth and ahead of teammate Pierre Gasly in seventh.

The McLaren pair of Carlos Sainz (eighth) and Lando Norris (10th) found themselves either side of ninth-placed Nico Hulkenberg’s Renault, with both teams set to continue their duel to secure fourth spot in the constructors’ championship.

Like in FP1, the afternoon running was also affected by a red flag stoppage as Albon crashed at the high-speed Turn 7 just 15 minutes into the session.

The British-born Thai driver lost control of the rear of his Red Bull and spun off track before hitting the barriers hard. The impact caused significant damage to the front right of his RB15 and led to a 15-minute red flag suspension while marshals cleared away Albon’s stricken car.

Albon’s second practice crash in three races comes with Red Bull set to make a decision on who will partner Verstappen in 2020 following this weekend’s race in Mexico City.

Outside of the top 10 came the Racing Point duo headed by Lance Stroll, who recovered from his FP1 shunt to turn in a laptime that was just 0.004s quicker than home-favourite Sergio Perez.

Daniel Ricciardo was unable to match the pace of Renault teammate Hulkenberg as he wound up 1.7s off the pace in 13th, ahead of Kimi Raikkonen’s Alfa Romeo, Romain Grosjean’s Haas and Antonio Giovinazzi.

In the second Haas, Kevin Magnussen endured a scrappy session and was 2.699s adrift in 17th, ahead of only the Williams drivers and Albon.

After Formula 2 frontrunner and 2020 Williams race seat candidate Nicholas Latifi drove his car in FP1, Robert Kubica returned to action and was two-tenths slower than teammate George Russell in what was the Pole’s first taste of driving F1 machinery in Mexico.

Click here for full results from the second free practice session in Mexico City.