The British Mercedes driver closed Friday as the fastest, after Sainz dominated Free Practice 1
The highlight of a procedure session, to test the 2023 tires, has been Leclerc’s spectacular accident
George Russell (Mercedes) has finished at the head of the second free practice sessions of the Mexican Grand Prix, which have lasted for 90 minutes, half an hour more than usual, but with a totally inconsequential result for the weekend, since, as happened a week into the second round of the United States Grand Prix, they have devoted themselves entirely to testing the new Pirelli compounds for the coming season.
Without sporting incentives, the most outstanding note of this FP1 has been the spectacular accident that Charles Leclerc has carried out, when they had completed 30 minutes of testing, when he hit the protection barriers at high speed. Without grip and with a lot of understeer, the Monegasque lost control of his car at the entrance of turn 7, causing significant damage to his car, although fortunately without physical consequences for him.
The rest of the favorites, starting with the two-time world champion Max Verstappen they have focused on the development of the tyres, without taking unnecessary risks on a complicated circuit and on which the current F1 cars roll for the first time, heavier than the previous version and with greater grip difficulty.
Carlos Sainz, who led the first free practice sessions at the Hermanos Rodríguez Autodrome, limited himself to completing the tire test procedure and finished eighth, 1.7 off the best time, set by Russell (1,19,970) in the initial bars and that in the end has served him to lead the session. Fernando Alonso has been placed 11th.
Tomorrow, Saturday, the third round of free rehearsals will allow the teams to fine-tune for the penultimate classification of the season, which will begin at 10:00 p.m. in Spain.
MEXICO GP. Free 2:
1. George Russell (Mercedes) 1’19″970
2. Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) at 0″828
3. Esteban Ocon (Alpine) at 1″207
4. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) at 1″539
5. Sergio Pérez (Red Bull) at 1″609
6. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) at 1″618
7. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) at 1″648
8. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) at 1″723
9. Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo) at 2″023
10. Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri) at 2″134
11. Fernando Alonso (Alpine) at 2″367
12. Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin) at 2″401
13. Alex Albon (Williams) at 2″477
14. Lando Norris (McLaren) at 2″768
15. Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren) at 2″793
16. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) at 2″87
17. Mick Schumacher (Haas) at 2″909
18. Kevin Magnussen (Haas) at 3″346
19. Nicholas Latifi (Williams) at 3″35
20. Guanyu Zhou (Alfa Romeo) at 3″399