Leclerc completes Mexico City practice double with fastest FP2 lap

Charles Leclerc completed a Friday double in Mexico City with a late 1:17.827 in FP2, having also topped FP1 in 1:18.128. Lando Norris was 0.103 seconds behind, with George Russell another 0.003 seconds back.

Ferrari team-mate Lewis Hamilton set the early pace on medium tyres with a 1:18.741, but Leclerc soon cut 0.484 seconds from that mark. An incident involving Max Verstappen and Liam Lawson in the stadium section scattered debris onto the track and brought a five-minute red flag. Kimi Antonelli split the Ferrari pair on a 1:18.559 after the restart.

Leclerc’s first soft-tyre push ended when he ran wide through the stadium. Norris then went to the top with 1:18.161, moments before Leclerc locked up at Turn 1 and abandoned another lap. Hamilton lost power on the main straight and stopped at the Turn 3 exit after 28 minutes, triggering a brief virtual safety car.

Lap times fell again on the soft tyres in the second half: Leclerc moved the benchmark to 1:17.966, then improved to 1:17.827 on his next lap. The final 20 minutes were spent on high-fuel running, leaving Leclerc’s time unbeaten.