By: Myanna Wedes.
The Mexican Grand Prix is about rivalry for the World Championship between Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas. In addition to this, the inter team battle between Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel. To win the Mexican Grand Prix is an honour because it is a challenging circuit where if you lack concentration, your race can end abruptly. During the early practice sessions, Alexander Albon managed to send his car in to the barriers once again and ending his session. The Thai rookie has struggled with the sessions prior to lights out Sunday, though manages to pull it together when it matters the most.
It was a similar chain of events with Leclerc and Bottas also spinning and having to work harder to stay ahead of the pack. Hamilton will be running without his chief engineer Bono this weekend as the Mercedes guru is having some kind of medical procedure. As a result, it will be a challenging Grand Prix for Hamilton with all eyes focused on his chances of completing a sixth World Title for the Silver Arrows.
The qualifying session will be vital to ensure a good start with Vettel upping his game, Max Verstappen feeling confident of his chances, Leclerc wanting to keep initialing his name in the record books and the Mercedes duo looking to find ways to improve as they still find it baffling how Ferrari has become so quick. No doubt the factory will be researching and trying to discover how to improve their overall performance in anticipation of the 2020 season. Right now, the goal is to finish up strong and enjoy the last few races of the year.
Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo will be wanting to put the Japanese disqualification behind him and bring his smile to the Mexican fans. The funny and jovial Ricciardo was skipping to his box though aware of the deceit he and his teammate Nico Hulkenberg face as they try to play catch up with the front runners. Overall, it will be interesting to see if McLaren driver Lando Norris can have a strong Grand Prix weekend though the conditions and track have been causing him some grief. A strong Saturday is what he is hoping for and working towards. “Not great, not terrible” were the words of the young British driver.
FP2 Session Times:
| POS | NO | DRIVER | CAR | TIME | GAP | LAPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | FERRARI | 1:16.607 | 35 | |
| 2 | 33 | Max Verstappen | RED BULL RACING HONDA | 1:16.722 | +0.115s | 37 |
| 3 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | FERRARI | 1:17.072 | +0.465s | 34 |
| 4 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | MERCEDES | 1:17.221 | +0.614s | 39 |
| 5 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | MERCEDES | 1:17.570 | +0.963s | 35 |
| 6 | 26 | Daniil Kvyat | SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO HONDA | 1:17.747 | +1.140s | 40 |
| 7 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO HONDA | 1:18.003 | +1.396s | 39 |
| 8 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | MCLAREN RENAULT | 1:18.079 | +1.472s | 38 |
| 9 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | RENAULT | 1:18.261 | +1.654s | 23 |
| 10 | 4 | Lando Norris | MCLAREN RENAULT | 1:18.349 | +1.742s | 36 |
| 11 | 18 | Lance Stroll | RACING POINT BWT MERCEDES | 1:18.362 | +1.755s | 38 |
| 12 | 11 | Sergio Perez | RACING POINT BWT MERCEDES | 1:18.366 | +1.759s | 34 |
| 13 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | RENAULT | 1:18.380 | +1.773s | 34 |
| 14 | 7 | Kimi Räikkönen | ALFA ROMEO RACING FERRARI | 1:18.681 | +2.074s | 37 |
| 15 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | HAAS FERRARI | 1:18.766 | +2.159s | 37 |
| 16 | 99 | Antonio Giovinazzi | ALFA ROMEO RACING FERRARI | 1:18.889 | +2.282s | 46 |
| 17 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | HAAS FERRARI | 1:19.306 | +2.699s | 37 |
| 18 | 63 | George Russell | WILLIAMS MERCEDES | 1:19.968 | +3.361s | 36 |
| 19 | 88 | Robert Kubica | WILLIAMS MERCEDES | 1:20.180 | +3.573s | 37 |
| 20 | 23 | Alexander Albon | RED BULL RACING HONDA | 1:21.665 | +5.058s | 5 |