Verstappen Dominates Mexican GP Friday Practice as Rivals Chase Home Hero Perez and Surging McLaren

The Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez circuit, a revered venue in Formula 1 lore named in tribute to Mexico’s legendary racing brothers Pedro and Ricardo Rodriguez, once again played host to the vibrant energy of the Mexican Grand Prix. Since its return to the F1 calendar in 2015, this high-altitude track has become synonymous with local hero Sergio Perez. As the most successful Mexican driver in Formula 1 history, Perez enjoys an unparalleled level of passionate support, transforming the grandstands into a sea of his signature vibrant pink. Tens of thousands of fans flocked to Mexico City on Friday, eager to witness the opening practice sessions and cheer on their idol from Guadalajara. However, few would have been surprised to see world champion Max Verstappen once again assert his dominance, topping the timing screens in both Free Practice 1 and Free Practice 2.

Verstappen concluded the first day of the Mexican weekend in perfect form, demonstrating the formidable pace of his Red Bull machine. His fastest lap of 1 minute 18.686 seconds ultimately placed him four positions and three-tenths of a second ahead of his Red Bull teammate, Sergio Perez. This gap has unfortunately become somewhat characteristic for Perez in the period following the summer break, highlighting Verstappen’s relentless pursuit of perfection. While the timing screens initially suggested another significant performance disparity between the two Red Bull drivers, Perez offered a plausible explanation for his comparatively subdued Friday showing.

“We didn’t have a straightforward day,” Perez admitted to the media after his sessions, navigating the bustling paddock. “We didn’t get a good read on the softs over a single lap. I had a yellow flag on my lap, so I ended up doing it on the second timed lap. So plenty of things to understand.” Data analysis indeed supports Perez’s account, revealing that he was considerably closer to Verstappen’s best time on his initial push lap on the soft compound tires. He was a mere 0.072 seconds off his teammate’s pace through the first half of the lap before being forced to back off due to yellow flags at Turn 8. While the exact time he might have posted remains speculative, this incident suggests that at this early stage of the weekend, Perez might not be as far adrift from his teammate as the raw timing sheets initially implied, offering a glimmer of hope for the local fans.

Intriguingly, the driver who emerged closest to Verstappen, a familiar sight on more than one Friday over the past two months, was Lando Norris in the McLaren. A mere tenth of a second separated Verstappen from Norris on their ultimate pace – a somewhat unexpected outcome, particularly given Norris’s pre-weekend pronouncements downplaying McLaren’s prospects. However, Verstappen remained unfazed by Norris’s modesty, asserting that he wasn’t surprised by McLaren’s strong performance.

“They [McLaren] have been close already for a few races now, so for me there is no surprise there,” Verstappen commented. “I think tomorrow is going to be incredibly competitive over one lap.” Norris did exhibit a 6 kph deficit to Verstappen at the end of the incredibly long main straight, costing him approximately two tenths of a second to the Red Bull even before braking for Turn 1. However, McLaren’s well-documented strengths in high-speed corners allowed Norris to maintain close proximity to Verstappen through the circuit’s sweeping sections. Even more remarkably, Norris actually gained time on Verstappen through the notoriously fiddly stadium section during his fastest lap – an area where the McLaren was widely anticipated to be at its weakest. This unexpected strength undoubtedly contributed to Norris’s growing optimism.

“A good start to the weekend,” was Norris’s concise assessment. “It’s close. A couple of bits still to improve, but we’re off to a good start and can build from here.” His comments hint at further potential for improvement, suggesting that McLaren could pose a significant threat as the weekend progresses. The unique characteristics of the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, with its extreme altitude reducing air density and thus aerodynamic grip, often throw up surprising results, and McLaren’s performance on Friday certainly fits that bill. Their car’s balance seems well-suited to managing the delicate compromise between straight-line speed and cornering performance required at this circuit.

While established front-runners like Mercedes and Aston Martin notably failed to feature in the top five in either of the two practice sessions, some unexpected names made their mark near the top of the order. In the initial session, Alexander Albon impressively guided his Williams to second quickest, showcasing the team’s potential. Later, Valtteri Bottas was so ecstatic to find himself within the top four at the conclusion of second practice that he even engaged in a playful skirmish with Verstappen into Turn 1 after the chequered flag, underlining his renewed confidence. Albon couldn’t quite replicate his lofty position in the second session, but similar to Perez, his quickest time was not entirely representative. A significant lift through Turn 9 cost him at least a quarter of a second compared to Verstappen. With that time recovered, his Williams would very likely have been comfortably within the top ten once more, demonstrating the raw pace the team has found recently.

Bottas had, in fact, missed the opening session entirely, having yielded his car to reserve driver Theo Pourchaire. Unfortunately, a brake problem plagued Pourchaire’s run, meaning he completed no meaningful laps and Bottas consequently received no crucial data from the first hour. Despite this setback, Bottas appeared undeterred, matching Charles Leclerc’s single-lap pace with remarkable consistency. “I am pleased with how today went,” Bottas stated after the session. “Thankfully, we found the issue that affected our car during FP1, and we were able to address it and quickly solve it between the sessions. I got a good number of laps under my belt, and the feeling with the car was generally pretty good.” His ability to quickly adapt and deliver a strong performance without prior data speaks volumes about his experience and the Alfa Romeo team’s swift troubleshooting.

At Ferrari, Charles Leclerc appeared to put the Scuderia firmly in the mix, setting the third fastest time of the day during his qualifying simulation run on the soft tires. However, despite having secured a stunning pole position at the United States Grand Prix qualifying session just last weekend, Leclerc remained cautiously optimistic. He candidly admitted that his team had “a lot of work to do” if they harbored realistic ambitions of battling for pole position in Mexico. “McLaren seems to be extremely strong,” Leclerc observed. “Obviously the Red Bull and Max seem to be very, very strong. It would be a huge surprise if we were to get pole position here.” His pragmatic assessment underscores the formidable challenge posed by Red Bull and the resurgent McLaren.

Another team that exhibited a distinct lack of confidence compared to just one week ago was Mercedes. The team openly acknowledged their struggles with the car, which regrettably explained why Frederik Vesti finished the first session as the slowest of the five junior drivers participating in the opening hour. Lewis Hamilton, who had finished a commendable two seconds behind Verstappen at the Circuit of the Americas, was left visibly perplexed by the dramatic shift in performance since Austin. He described Friday as a “challenging day,” indicating that Mercedes had yet to find the sweet spot for their W14 at the unique Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

With an additional hour of running scheduled before the crucial qualifying session, there is fortunately still time for Red Bull’s rivals to extract more pace from their packages. Teams will be working tirelessly overnight to analyze data, fine-tune setups, and find those elusive milliseconds that can make all the difference. However, unless they can unlock significant performance gains, Sergio Perez might be the only driver who stands a chance of preventing Max Verstappen from securing his 11th pole position of the season, a truly remarkable feat, especially in front of his adoring home fans. The stage is set for a thrilling Saturday, as teams and drivers alike push the limits in pursuit of grid glory at the high-altitude spectacle of the Mexican Grand Prix.

Combined practice times

P.	#	Driver	Team	FP1 time	FP2 time	Gap	Laps
1	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull-Honda RBPT	1’19.718	1’18.686		55
2	4	Lando Norris	McLaren-Mercedes	1’20.237	1’18.805	0.119	61
3	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1’20.297	1’18.952	0.266	63
4	77	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo-Ferrari		1’18.955	0.269	33
5	11	Sergio Perez	Red Bull-Honda RBPT	1’20.015	1’18.988	0.302	57
6	3	Daniel Ricciardo	AlphaTauri-Honda RBPT	1’20.568	1’19.002	0.316	61
7	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1’20.724	1’19.024	0.338	55
8	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine-Renault	1’20.677	1’19.077	0.391	55
9	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren-Mercedes	1’20.463	1’19.163	0.477	63
10	63	George Russell	Mercedes		1’19.227	0.541	31
11	55	Carlos Sainz Jnr	Ferrari	1’20.479	1’19.257	0.571	57
12	22	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri-Honda RBPT		1’19.290	0.604	34
13	24	Zhou Guanyu	Alfa Romeo-Ferrari	1’21.129	1’19.415	0.729	54
14	23	Alexander Albon	Williams-Mercedes	1’19.813	1’19.446	0.760	54
15	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas-Ferrari	1’20.968	1’19.535	0.849	58
16	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine-Renault		1’19.642	0.956	29
17	2	Logan Sargeant	Williams-Mercedes	1’21.157	1’19.900	1.214	56
18	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin-Mercedes	1’20.687	1’20.075	1.389	43
19	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas-Ferrari		1’20.112	1.426	30
20	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin-Mercedes	1’21.347	1’20.426	1.740	47
21	50	Oliver Bearman	Haas-Ferrari	1’21.313		2.627	31
22	41	Isack Hadjar	AlphaTauri-Honda RBPT	1’21.941		3.255	25
23	61	Jack Doohan	Alpine-Renault	1’22.109		3.423	25
24	42	Frederik Vesti	Mercedes	1’22.937		4.251	26

2023 Mexican Grand Prix

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• Ferrari reaping the benefits of having F1’s most closely-matched team mates
• Norris had “no chance” to beat Verstappen in Mexico even without Q1 exit
• Transcript: How Ricciardo’s race went awry soon after he was told to “bring it home”
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