Mexican GP: Carlos Sainz tops FP2 after heavy George Russell crash

Carlos Sainz was the fastest man on track as the teams took to the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez for FP2 of the Mexican Grand Prix.

It was an unusual second practice session with an extra 30 minutes added on as the drivers became guinea pigs to test tyres for Pirelli ahead of next season.

Carlos Sainz tops final Friday practice session of Mexican Grand Prix

Even with the extended session, the teams lost out on plenty of running after George Russell brought out the red flag with a little over 10 minutes on the clock.

The Mercedes driver, who crashed in quali at the US GP last week, took too much kerb on the Turn 7-9 section and lost control, spinning before hitting the Tecpro barrier with enough force to trigger the medical car being released.

Russell was able to escape from his heavily damaged car but looked noticeably sheepish in doing so, leaning on the barrier before being picked up by the medical car. Mercedes later confirmed he had been released by the medical team and was “physically okay.”

Once the session did restart, there was a noticeable absence in the form of championship leader Max Verstappen whose FP1 engine troubles continued into the afternoon session.

Having gone out for a few laps, Verstappen complained of a strange noise coming from his power unit and despite the lengthy stoppage caused by Russell’s crash, Red Bull were unable to get it fixed before the session end.

Another driver who did not feature was Alex Albon after his collision with Ollie Bearman in FP1. James Vowles told Sky F1 that the team were replacing pretty much the whole car and a job that size was not able to be completed before the end of Friday’s running.

As for those that did manage to get out on track, it was Carlos Sainz who set the early pace with a time of 1:17.699, 0.178 seconds quicker than P2 Oscar Piastri.

Late in the session, Lando Norris and Fernando Alonso fitted this season’s mediums and both improved on their times. The McLaren man went up to P5 while Alonso was in 11th.

Mexican Grand Prix FP2 results in full

1 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:17.699
2 Oscar Piastri McLaren +0.178
3 Yuki Tsunoda VCARB +0.179
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +0.188
5 Lando Norris McLaren +0.249
6 Kevin Magnussen Haas F1 Team +0.540
7 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +0.580
8 Valtteri Bottas Kick Sauber +0.652
9 Sergio Perez Red Bull Racing +0.693
10 Liam Lawson VCARB +0.861
11 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +0.921
12 Nico Hulkenberg Haas F1 Team +0.922
13 Esteban Ocon Alpine +0.957
14 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +1.191
15 Franco Colapinto Williams +1.209
16 Pierre Gasly Alpine +1.243
17 Zhou Guanyu Kick Sauber +1.281
18 George Russell Mercedes +1.342
19 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing
20 Alexander Albon Williams