Charles Leclerc led both practice sessions at the 2026 F1 Mexico City Grand Prix this Friday, after topping an FP2 session that saw Max Verstappen crash into Liam Lawson.

A drop in temperature and higher wind speeds greeted the Formula 1 field back to the track for the second hour of practice at the Mexico City GP. All 22 full-time drivers also took to the track in FP2, after 10 rookie drivers featured in FP1 at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

Every team except for Ferrari chose to run a rookie in FP1 to fulfil part of their quotas for the season, and Charles Leclerc even ensured that the Scuderia finished the hour on top. A time of 1:18.128 was enough for Leclerc to set the pace in FP1 in Mexico City ahead of Mercedes’ champion-elect Andrea Kimi Antonelli, yet lap times fell during the more representative FP2.

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The second hour of practice at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez did not start smoothly for some. Haas had to offer Oliver Bearman a new engine from within his pool, while Aston Martin had to give Lance Stroll a new battery after Jak Crawford encountered trouble in FP1.

Alpine wasted no time before sending Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto out at the start of FP2, followed by most of the rest of the grid. And it was not long before issues struck Haas, as Esteban Ocon radioed in to report he had “no power steering”, and bigger problems hit Bearman as the Briton had to briefly pull over before pitting due to a sudden loss of power.

Max Verstappen, in contrast, was not wasting any time after having to watch FP1 from the Red Bull pit wall, as the four-time F1 champion immediately took a set of the soft C5 Pirelli tyres to set a 1:20.474. Yet Verstappen’s first lap was slower than the 1:20.275 benchmark that Racing Bulls talent Arvid Lindblad set while using a set of the hard C3 compound tyres.

Verstappen’s initial lap was soon 0.890s off the pace as his Red Bull teammate Isack Hadjar used a set of the medium C4 compound tyres to post a 1:19.584. Medium tyres even soon saw Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton drop the benchmark to a 1:18.741 with the first 1:18 lap.

Bearman was not the only driver without a lap time as Leclerc pushed Hamilton off the top spot with a 1:18.257 inside the first 10 minutes, either. Audi ace Gabriel Bortoleto watched the early exchanges from the garage, as his team had to identify and solve a leak in his car.

McLaren racers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris also both found themselves joining the list of drivers who locked up and ran into the grass run-off area at Turn 1. But bigger drama would unfold in the baseball section, as Liam Lawson of Racing Bulls and Red Bull racer Verstappen offered a preview of Sunday’s Mexico City GP but collided and caused a red flag for debris.

Verstappen caught Lawson on the run into Turn 12, so attempted a late dive under braking to gain track position. But the latter refused to yield, and made a lunge of his own into T13, which riled Verstappen so he cut over the run-off area and barged into the side of Lawson’s car as he jumped over the kerb on the inside of Turn 14, which damaged both of their cars.

The FIA’s race stewards decided to summon Verstappen and Lawson to discuss the incident after FP2, as they felt they needed to hear both drivers’ views about the petulant collision.

Charles Leclerc does the double to top FP2 at the Mexico City GP – Who is your favourite for pole after Day 1?

Stroll also reported more problems for Aston Martin before the red flags waved around the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. The Canadian felt his AMR26 was “fully broken” as it was “not working properly”, at which point only Alex Albon and Valtteri Bottas had slower times.

Once the session resumed, Antonelli wasted no time to move up to P2 in the timesheets on a set of the medium C4 Pirelli tyres with a 1:18.559. The Italian recorded a new fastest split time in the middle sector to equal Leclerc’s benchmark to that point, but traffic through the stadium section cost the Mercedes driver dearly and he crossed the finish line 0.302s adrift.

McLaren ace Norris, meanwhile, used a new set of soft C5 Pirelli tyres to move to the top of the FP2 timesheets on a 1:18.161. The reigning champion did not set the overall fastest split time in any of the three sectors, but he eclipsed Leclerc’s earlier benchmark time by 0.096s.

Leclerc was having trouble on his set of new soft tyres, too, as the Ferrari driver joined the list of drivers to lock up into Turn 1. Soft tyres were also only enough for Hamilton to haul his Ferrari SF-26 up to P3 with a 0.351s deficit to Norris, right before engineer Carlo Santi told the seven-time champion to stop his car at the side of the track with 32 minutes left.

Hamilton initially reported over Ferrari’s radio that “something’s wrong with the power”, before the Briton added that he had “lost all power from Turn 13” as he started to crawl down the pit straight. Ferrari were clearly concerned by the issue, so he parked on track.

Leclerc had no such issues in his SF-26, as the Monegasque put Ferrari back on top of the FP2 timesheets with a 1:17.966 before further lowering the pace to 1:17.827. Norris also proved that the track continuing to gain grip negated tyre wear, as he improved his pace with a 1:17.930 to climb back above the 1:18.044 that Mercedes star Antonelli set for P2.

Piastri also looked set to improve his lap time with a used set of soft C5 tyres, but a loss of grip in the final corner nearly sent the Australian into a spin. The Melbourne native did well to catch the slide as he passed the pit entry marker, before soon returning to the pit lane.

As most of the F1 field then turned their focus to race simulations towards the end of FP2, Mexico City GP specialist Verstappen – who has taken a record five wins at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez – took another new set of soft tyres and improved to P5 on a 1:18.138.

Aston Martin star Stroll also improved his pace to climb up to P20 with a 1:19.631. Bortoleto also finally made it out onto the circuit during the final quarter of an hour, after Audi had to change the floor on his A26 following the Brazilian’s early dramas during FP2 in Mexico City.