Charles Leclerc Tops Mexican GP FP2 as Max Verstappen and Liam Lawson Clash

Charles Leclerc Leads Formula 1 Mexican Grand Prix Practice as Red Bull Teammates Clash

Charles Leclerc set the pace in second practice for the 2026 Mexican Grand Prix, navigating a chaotic Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez session marred by off-track excursions, technical failures, and an intra-team collision between Max Verstappen and Liam Lawson. Leclerc posted a benchmark lap of 1m17.827s to edge out McLaren’s Lando Norris by 0.103s, keeping Ferrari at the top of the timesheet despite enduring multiple mistakes during his qualifying simulations.

The session at Mexico City unfolded amidst high drama as reliability gremlins and aggressive driving disrupted the field. Ferrari suffered a setback when Lewis Hamilton broke down on track due to an engine problem, cutting short his running and leaving him 11th quickest. Meanwhile, Verstappen and Lawson triggered a red flag after tangling in the stadium section, and championship leader Kimi Antonelli battled traffic on his way to fourth fastest for Mercedes.

Max Verstappen Criticizes Liam Lawson Following Turn 14 Collision

The most contentious moment of the afternoon arrived fifteen minutes into the session when Verstappen and Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson collided while circulating. Verstappen dived down the inside of Lawson at Turn 12, gesticulating at him as they exited the corner side by side. Lawson maintained the inside line through the Turn 13 hairpin, and the two cars made contact at the Turn 14 right-hander as Verstappen ran off the track over the inside kerb and into the Racing Bulls machine.

The impact shattered the left-hand-side bargeboard on Verstappen’s Red Bull, forcing race control to deploy a red flag to clear debris from the racing line. Speaking to Sky Sports after climbing out of his damaged car, Verstappen did not mince words about the incident. “Well I don’t think it’s called unlucky,” Verstappen told Sky Sports, as reported by Motorsport.com. “Maybe not very smart behaviour, what he was trying to do there. At the end of the day it’s not going to change my weekend, but if I would be him, I would act a little bit smarter. Also when you’re fighting for your seat it’s not very smart behaviour.”

Red Bull boss Laurent Mekies acknowledged the setback to Sky Sports Germany, noting that Verstappen had to complete the remainder of the session with a compromised car. “Max had a bit of a disturbed session obviously with the contact with Liam,” Mekies said. “So quite a bit of car damage there, so it’s a bit of a shame because obviously we had to carry on like that with the car. None of them is in a fast lap. So all I can say is that it looks very, very unnecessary.” Despite the damage, Verstappen returned to the track later in the session to salvage fifth place, finishing 0.311s off Leclerc’s leading pace, while Lawson ended the day in ninth.

Ferrari Navigates Early Pace and Late Qualifying Simulations

Ferrari established an early advantage during the initial running on Pirelli’s harder compounds, with Leclerc and Hamilton running 1-2 on medium tyres and sitting six tenths clear of Oscar Piastri’s hard-tyred McLaren. Leclerc’s path to the top was far from clean, however. The Monégasque driver suffered a lurid slide through the esses early on, ran wide through Turn 12 on his first soft-tyre flying lap after encountering Sergio Perez’s Cadillac, and locked up heavily under braking for Turn 1 on his subsequent attempt.

Despite those errors, Leclerc managed to string together two laps inside the 1m17s bracket to secure the fastest time. George Russell placed third for Mercedes, just 0.003s slower than Norris and 0.111s ahead of teammate Antonelli. Antonelli had threatened the top spot during a late run on medium tyres, matching Leclerc’s pace through the first two sectors before encountering Pierre Gasly’s Alpine in the final sequence of corners.

More on this story: Charles Leclerc tops Friday practice session in Abu Dhabi · Gabriele Mini to Make F1 FP1 Debut at Mexico Grand Prix with Alpine

More on Liam Lawson: Liam Lawson Explains Q3 Absence After US Grand Prix Grid Spot · Liam Lawson finishes ninth at the United States Grand Prix