2023 Mexico City Grand Prix Race Recap،
MEXICO CITY – Max Verstappen retained his place at the top of the timesheet during the second practice session for this weekend’s Mexican Grand Prix.
The three-time world champion, seeking a record 16th victory of the season in Mexico, was fastest despite rivals McLaren and Ferrari closing the gap at the top.
Lando Norris finished the session just 0.119 seconds behind Verstappen, while Charles Leclerc was 0.266 seconds behind the best time. Underscoring the likelihood of a competitive qualifying session on Saturday, the top 16 drivers were separated by less than a second.
The relatively high altitude of Mexico City, located 2,250 meters above sea level, tends to produce surprising results and could help explain the presence of Valtteri Bottas’ Alfa Romeo in the top four.
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Bottas, who is 14th in the drivers’ standings this year, was just 0.269 seconds behind Verstappen and almost half a second faster than teammate Zhou Guanyu, 13th. The lap time also puts him ahead of local hero Sergio Pérez, who only managed fifth place for Red Bull but was still greeted with cheers every time he entered the stadium section of the circuit towards the end of the turn.
Daniel Ricciardo was another star of the session, setting the sixth fastest time for AlphaTauri. Ricciardo has completed just one race in F1 since undergoing surgery on his hand to repair the bone he broke during testing for the Dutch Grand Prix in August.
Lewis Hamilton was the highest-placed Mercedes driver in seventh overall, ahead of Alpine’s Esteban Ocon in eighth and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri in ninth.
Mercedes had hoped to be competitive in Mexico after Hamilton finished just behind Verstappen at the United States Grand Prix last weekend, only to be disqualified for a technical infraction after the race. His teammate George Russell set the 10th fastest time ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz in 11th.
Fernando Alonso appeared to struggle throughout Friday’s practice and finished slowest of all at the end of the second session. He spun into Turn 9 at high speed midway through the hour, but managed to keep his Aston Martin out of the barriers and escape with only damage to his tires.
Alonso’s teammate Lance Stroll also struggled and finished the session in 18th.
