2026 Mexico City GP FP2: Leclerc completes Friday sweep

Charles Leclerc continued Ferrari’s impressive start to the Mexico City Grand Prix weekend, edging out Lando Norris and George Russell in a dramatic second practice session interrupted by contact, mechanical problems and a red flag.

Charles Leclerc completed a clean sweep of Friday practice at the 2026 Mexico City Grand Prix, setting the fastest lap of FP2 to keep Ferrari at the top of the timesheets ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris and Mercedes driver George Russell.

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The Monegasque produced a late benchmark of 1m 17.827s at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, beating Norris by just 0.103s, with Russell only another 0.003s behind. Championship leader Kimi Antonelli finished fourth, 0.217s off the pace, as the leading contenders in the 2026 F1 World Championship continued their preparations for a potentially decisive weekend.

2026 Mexico City Grand Prix FP2 Results

2026 Mexico City Grand Prix FP2, 30 October 2026

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1:17.827	35
2	1	Lando Norris	McLaren	+0.103s	33
3	63	George Russell	Mercedes	+0.106s	31
4	12	Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	+0.217s	33
5	3	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	+0.311s	26
6	6	Isack Hadjar	Red Bull Racing	+0.410s	31
7	41	Arvid Lindblad	Racing Bulls	+0.562s	34
8	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	+0.580s	33
9	30	Liam Lawson	Racing Bulls	+0.628s	32
10	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	+0.642s	31
11	44	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	+0.685s	13
12	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	+0.769s	30
13	31	Esteban Ocon	Haas F1 Team	+0.947s	32
14	87	Oliver Bearman	Haas F1 Team	+1.022s	32
15	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Audi	+1.196s	35
16	43	Franco Colapinto	Alpine	+1.305s	34
17	55	Carlos Sainz	Williams	+1.421s	28
18	11	Sergio Perez	Cadillac	+1.579s	33
19	23	Alexander Albon	Williams	+1.751s	31
20	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	+1.804s	24
21	77	Valtteri Bottas	Cadillac	+2.338s	33
22	5	Gabriel Bortoleto	Audi	+2.347s	12

After 10 drivers gave up their seats to young and reserve drivers during the opening practice session, FP2 offered almost half the grid its first proper running of the weekend. That created an immediate rush for track time, with a lengthy queue forming at the pit exit before the session began at 16:00 local time.

Esteban Ocon was among the first drivers onto the circuit, but his session started badly when he reported having “no power steering” during his installation laps. The Haas driver returned to the garage, while team-mate Oliver Bearman also briefly pulled to the side of the track before recovering and making his way back to the pits.

Max Verstappen initially set the pace with a 1m 20.474s on Soft tyres, although the four-time world champion was quickly displaced by Racing Bulls youngster Arvid Lindblad and Red Bull team-mate Isack Hadjar as lap times began to improve.

Ferrari soon moved to the front through Lewis Hamilton, who posted a 1m 18.741s to establish the early benchmark once most drivers had completed their first representative runs.

Leclerc, however, had initially struggled to put a clean lap together after catching a sudden snap of oversteer that almost sent his Ferrari out of control. Once he found his rhythm, the 28-year-old responded with a lap nearly half a second quicker than Hamilton, immediately underlining Ferrari’s strong single-lap pace.

The low-grip conditions continued to create problems across the field, with several drivers locking up under braking as they searched for the limits of the circuit. Norris was among those caught out, while traffic also became an increasingly significant factor as teams attempted to complete their programmes.

The biggest flashpoint came at Turn 12, where Verstappen and Liam Lawson found themselves battling for track position after following Carlos Sainz’s Williams. Neither driver was willing to concede as they arrived side-by-side, resulting in contact between the Red Bull and Racing Bulls cars.

Debris was scattered across the circuit, forcing race control to briefly suspend the session under a red flag while the track was cleared. Lawson was furious over the incident, claiming over team radio that Verstappen “literally drove into me”, while the stewards noted the collision for further consideration.

Verstappen was able to return to the circuit with just under 40 minutes remaining, allowing Red Bull to resume its programme after the interruption.

Once the session restarted, attention turned towards qualifying simulations as drivers switched to Pirelli’s Soft compound in search of faster lap times.

Norris delivered an impressive improvement to move McLaren to the top of the order, displacing Leclerc, whose own attempts to respond were compromised by running wide and a significant lock-up.

Ferrari’s afternoon then took a more concerning turn when Hamilton suffered a sudden loss of power, forcing the seven-time world champion to stop his car on track.

The British driver had already reported a problem over team radio, explaining: “Something’s wrong with the power. I lost all power from Turn 13.”

Race control deployed a Virtual Safety Car as Hamilton’s stranded Ferrari was attended to, bringing a premature end to his FP2 running and leaving the Italian team with a technical issue to investigate before Saturday.

Despite his team-mate’s troubles, Leclerc restored Ferrari to first place with a 1m 17.827s, setting what would prove to be the fastest lap of the session.

The improvement put him ahead of Norris and Antonelli, before Russell moved into third place with a lap just 0.106s slower than the leading Ferrari. Crucially, the Mercedes driver finished only 0.003s behind Norris, highlighting just how closely matched the front-running teams were over a single lap.

No further improvements were enough to dislodge Leclerc in the closing stages, securing the Ferrari driver his second practice-topping performance of the day after he had also led FP1 by 0.659s.

Norris ultimately finished second, providing McLaren with encouragement after a difficult recent run of form, while Russell completed the top three ahead of Antonelli and Verstappen, who ended the session 0.311s off the pace.

Hadjar took sixth in the second Red Bull, followed by Lindblad in the Racing Bulls and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly. Lawson recovered from his earlier collision to finish ninth, with Oscar Piastri completing the top 10 for McLaren.

Hamilton narrowly missed out on the top 10 in 11th following his early retirement from the session, ahead of Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin and the Haas pair of Ocon and Bearman. Nico Hulkenberg finished 15th for Audi.

Franco Colapinto led the lower order in 16th for Alpine, ahead of Sainz, Cadillac’s Sergio Perez and Williams driver Alex Albon. Lance Stroll was 20th for Aston Martin, with Valtteri Bottas 21st in the second Cadillac.

Gabriel Bortoleto completed the 22-driver classification for Audi, having finally made it onto the circuit after the team resolved a technical problem that had delayed his running.

With Leclerc fastest in both Friday sessions, Ferrari appeared to have established itself as an early contender for pole position, although Hamilton’s reliability concerns cast a shadow over an otherwise encouraging day for the Scuderia.

Mercedes remained firmly in contention, with Russell and Antonelli both within 0.217s of Leclerc, while Norris demonstrated that McLaren could still challenge at the front despite its recent struggles.

For Antonelli, the focus remains on managing a potentially historic weekend. The Italian arrives in Mexico City with an opportunity to secure his maiden Formula 1 drivers’ title, but the close times in FP2 suggest Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull could all have a say in how the remainder of the weekend unfolds.

Verstappen and Lawson get grid penalties after ‘clumsy’ Mexico City practice clash

The drama between Verstappen and Lawson continued after the chequered flag, with both drivers handed one-place grid penalties for Sunday’s Mexico City Grand Prix, along with one penalty point each on their super licences. Following a review of video footage, telemetry and discussions with both drivers, the stewards deemed their actions at Turn 12 and through the stadium section unacceptable, particularly after teams had been warned about unnecessary incidents earlier in the day. Verstappen had attempted to pass Lawson while the pair were on preparation and cooldown laps, before contact damaged the Red Bull’s floor and the Racing Bulls’ front wing. Both acknowledged that their actions had been unnecessary, with Racing Bulls team principal Alan Permane also criticising the clash. The stewards opted for grid penalties rather than formal warnings, citing previous incidents during practice sessions and the earlier warning issued at the team managers’ meeting.