Verstappen collides with Lawson as Leclerc tops Mexico FP2
Charles Leclerc kept Ferrari on top in second practice for Formula 1’s 2026 Mexican Grand Prix, despite a messy session in which he twice went off the track and team-mate Lewis Hamilton broke down on track with an engine problem and Max Verstappen collided with Red Bull stablemate Liam Lawson.
The Ferraris established a comfortable advantage during the early running on the harder Pirelli tyre compounds, despite a lurid slide through the esses from Leclerc, with him and Hamilton 1-2 using the medium tyre and six tenths clear of Oscar Piastri’s hard-tyred McLaren.
Having sat out first practice, Verstappen decided to head straight out on the soft tyre but was only fifth fastest and a full second off the pace before a bizarre incident with Lawson that caused a red flag.
Verstappen dived inside the Racing Bulls on the brakes into Turn 12, gesticulating at Lawson as they exited the corner side by side.
Lawson remained on Verstappen’s inside through the following Turn 13 left-hand hairpin and the two then collided at the Turn 14 right-hander as Verstappen went off the track, over the inside kerb and into Lawson’s car.
The incident shattered the Red Bull’s left-hand-side bargeboard and a red flag stoppage was required to clear the debris.
Once the session resumed, championship leader Kimi Antonelli attempted a final run on the medium tyre that split the two Ferraris. He was absolutely level with Leclerc after two sectors, but encountered Pierre Gasly’s Alpine through the final sequence of turns and ended up three tenths off.
Leclerc maintained Ferrari’s place at the top of the timesheet in the qualifying simulations on soft tyres, despite running wide through Turn 12 after encountering Sergio Perez’s Cadillac on his first flying lap, then locking up heavily under braking for Turn 1 when he made a second attempt.
Leclerc eventually strung some laps together and managed two inside the 1m17s bracket, Leclerc’s best of 1m17.827s enough to beat the McLaren of Lando Norris by 0.103s.
George Russell was third fastest in the best of the Mercedes, just 0.003s slower than Norris and 0.111s clear of Mercedes team-mate Antonelli.
Verstappen returned to the track in his damaged Red Bull and managed to place it fifth, albeit three tenths off the pace, while team-mate Isack Hadjar rounded out the top six, just under a tenth down on Verstappen.
Arvid Lindblad’s Racing Bulls, Gasly’s Alpine, Lawson’s Racing Bulls and Piastri’s McLaren completed the top 10, while Hamilton’s loss of power cut short his qualifying run and left him only 11th quickest, fractionally ahead of Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin Honda.
Mexican GP FP2 results
1 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 1m17.827s
2 Lando Norris (McLaren) +0.103s
3 George Russell (Mercedes) +0.106s
4 Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) +0.217s
5 Max Verstappen (Red Bull) +0.311s
6 Isack Hadjar (Red Bull) +0.410s
7 Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) +0.562s
8 Pierre Gasly (Alpine) +0.580s
9 Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) +0.628s
10 Oscar Piastri (McLaren) +0.642s
11 Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) +0.685s
12 Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) +0.769s
13 Esteban Ocon (Haas) +0.947s
14 Ollie Bearman (Haas) +1.022s
15 Nico Hulkenberg (Audi) +1.196s
16 Franco Colapinto (Alpine) +1.305s
17 Carlos Sainz (Williams) +1.421s
18 Sergio Perez (Cadillac) +1.579s
19 Alex Albon (Williams) +1.751s
20 Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) +1.804s
21 Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac) +2.338s
22 Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi) +2.347s
