Full results from Free Practice 2 for the Mexican Grand Prix at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, round 19 of the 2018 Formula 1 season.<doc-sep>Max Verstappen headed a one-two finish for Red Bull in the second Formula 1 practice session for the Mexican Grand Prix on Friday, but saw his session come to an early end when an issue forced him to park up at the side of the track late on. After finishing over a second clear of the rest of the field in FP1 in the morning, Red Bull once again dominated proceedings in FP2 as Verstappen and teammate Daniel Ricciardo surged clear at the front of the pack. Driver Ratings - United States GP Video of Driver Ratings - United States GP Verstappen recorded a fastest lap time of 1m16.720s to finish 0.153 seconds clear of Ricciardo on the Hypersoft tyre, with the high downforce requirements of the high altitude circuit in Mexico playing to the strengths of the RB14 car. Verstappen’s advantage was such that his time on the slower Ultrasoft tyre was still half a second quicker than any other driver, before the Dutchman then found an additional seven-tenths of a second when he moved onto Hypersofts. However, concerns were flared on the Red Bull pit wall when he was forced to park his car up at the side of the track at Turn 3 with 10 minutes left on the clock in FP2, having run wide at the first corner just moments earlier. Smoke was seen coming from the rear of Verstappen's car, which appeared to suffer a complete shutdown, sparking concerns that reliability may dash his hopes of a first victory since Austria this weekend in Mexico. Renault continued its good form from FP1 to once again disrupt the ‘big three’ teams, beating both Mercedes drivers. Carlos Sainz Jr. managed to finish the session third, 1.2 seconds behind Verstappen, and edged out Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel by one-thousandth of a second to leave the German P4 overall. Nico Hulkenberg took fifth in the second Renault ahead of Toro Rosso’s Brendon Hartley, who put in a stellar effort on Hypersofts to grab P6 ahead of championship leader Lewis Hamilton in seventh for Mercedes. Kimi Raikkonen took eighth ahead of Valtteri Bottas in ninth as both struggled to match the pace of their teammates at Ferrari and Mercedes respectively, while home favourite Sergio Perez rounded out the top 10 for Force India. The session was once again filled with driver radio complaints about the Hypersoft tyre, which suffered from significant graining and wear, suggesting drivers may favour to use the Ultrasofts in Q2 tomorrow to ensure it is their starting tyre for the race. A number of drivers experienced significant pace drop-offs just four or five laps into their Hypersoft stints, creating a strategy headache for many of the teams to ponder tonight ahead of FP3 and qualifying on Saturday.<doc-sep>Verstappen hit the front during the early running with his pace on ultrasoft Pirellis, posting a time of 1m17.437s to lead teammate Ricciardo. That put them ahead of hypersoft-shod Sergio Perez, with Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton in fourth and 1.3s down using supersofts. Sebastian Vettel was the first of the frontrunners to attempt a qualifying simulation run on hypersofts, but was only quick enough to go second behind Verstappen. This set the pattern for the Ferrari and Mercedes drivers struggling during their quick runs, with Kimi Raikkonen, Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas all failing to challenge Verstappen. When Verstappen did start his performance run, Renault driver Carlos Sainz was his closest challenger, having posted a 1m17.953s – putting him ahead of the Mercedes and Ferrari drivers. Verstappen then nailed a lap of 1m16.720s, putting him fastest by 1.233s before Ricciardo slotted into second just 0.153s behind. Despite his pace, Verstappen said over the radio it was "all over the place, the engine is not doing what it should do" when asked how it was. With 10 minutes remaining, Verstappen pulled off at the exit of Turn 3 after cutting across the grass when the engine cut out at the entry to Turn 1. Behind Sainz in third, Vettel ended up the best of the Ferrari and Mercedes drivers and just one thousandth of a second slower. That put him 0.092s quicker than the other Renault of Nico Hulkenberg, who had Toro Rosso driver Brendon Hartley – who was briefly fastest during the first runs – snapping at his heels. This meant Lewis Hamilton ended up seventh, 1.380s off the pace, and 33 thousandths faster than Raikkonen, having earlier had an off-track moment on his first run when he locked up into Turn 1. Valtteri Bottas was ninth in the second Mercedes, seven thousandths behind Raikkonen. Perez was shuffled down to 10th by the end of the session, even though he did improve on his second hypersoft run. That put him ahead of Racing Point Force India teammate Esteban Ocon, having his first run of the weekend after handing his car over to Nicholas Latifi in FP1, who was a quarter-of-a-second quicker than the leading Haas of Romain Grosjean. Sauber driver Charles Leclerc, who sat out FP1 for Antonio Giovinazzi, pipped Toro Rosso's Pierre Gasly to 14th, with McLaren's Stoffel Vandoorne completing the top 15. At the bottom of the timesheets, McLaren driver Fernando Alonso beat Kevin Magnussen to 19th place. The Dane struggled with tyre temperatures, saying they were "absolutely nowhere" during his performance run. Many drivers complained about the tyres, with long runs on hypersofts in particular also producing very rapid degradation.<doc-sep>Full results from Qualifying for the Mexican Grand Prix at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, round 19 of the 2018 Formula 1 season.<doc-sep>
Mexico FP2: Verstappen fastest then stops Max Verstappen was remarkably calm as he parked his Red Bull after a hydraulic failure mid-lap with around ten minutes remaining in the second free practice session of the Mexican Grand Prix weekend. Verstappen was unbeaten all day as he also topped the timing screens at the end of FP1. In the second session of the day, his lap time of 1:16.720, before the mishap, was enough for top spot again. The Dutchman said afterwards, “We have a good car, good downforce and good mechanical grip. Unfortunately, our day ended with a hydraulic issue, but other than that our day has been really good.” Daniel Ricciardo was second fastest, a tenth and a half down on his teammate as Red Bull clearly have the package to beat this weekend at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, with Verstappen’s ambition to repeat the victory he scored last year at the venue a realistic prospect. With the altitude venue apparently negating the power advantage of Ferrari and Mercedes, Renault’s Carlos Sainz was next best albeit 1.2 seconds down on the top time, but a tenth up on his teammate Nico Hulkenberg in fifth. Sebastian Vettel split the yellow duo on the timing screens with the fourth best time in the Ferrari. United States Grand Prix winner Kimi Raikkonen was eighth. The Reds still searching for the sweet spot. Brendon Hartley showed strong pace in his Toro Rosso to finish the 90-minute session in sixth while teammate Pierre Gasly, who sat out most of FP1, managed to get mileage but had to settle for 14th. Mercedes also struggled in what was the worst Friday of their season, Lewis Hamilton was only good for seventh and Valtteri Bottas ninth. The silver cars a massive 1.3 seconds down on the Blues at the front of the field. Next up were the Force India pair with local hero Sergio Perez rounding out the top ten, three tenths up on Esteban Ocon in the sister car. Grip or lack thereof and graining were key factors during the course of the day in which only Red Bull could get their tyres working in an optimum manner. There was some serious head scratching at the end of the first day of action in Mexico.