Verstappen dominates FP2 as Hamilton struggles with Balance

If anyone thought that Mercedes were still well ahead of Red Bull Max Verstappen put that all to bed as he went half a second faster than both Bottas and Hamilton in FP2.

The dutchman never looked troubled as he put his car back on top and watched his championship rival struggle to find the balance in the car to compete. While Max may have put in the fastest lap his teammate Sergio Perez was still very much in the mix with the Mercs to put his name in the hat for Qualifying tomorrow.

With the drivers settled and the track warmed after FP1 earlier today it was time for the next practice session for the 2021 Mexican Grand Prix.

FP1 had been a tentative hour of driving as the cars adjusted to the tricky conditions they were met with but from the off, the cars and drivers looked to be far more dialed in. After making their way through the afternoon traffic it was time to put the hammer down.

And Verstappen did just that, he was the first of any driver to head into the 1:17's as he put down the benchmark for the session. Bottas came the closest but was still a tenth off on the same soft compound tire.

The surprise for some may have been the pace that both the AlphaTauries were showing. Both Yuki Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly were running in P4 and P3. A good indication that the Italians could gain some much-needed points from the race on Sunday.

Halfway through the session Hamilton was finally able to get a lap in and went top with a 1:17.8 to put his Mercedes top of the leaderboard. But that was short-lived as Verstappen decimated that time and went five tenths faster just a few moments later.

Whilst the top four were interchanging between Mercedes and Red Bull the rest of the order was looking similar to what we had seen earlier. Ferrari still looked to have the edge on McLaren as both Lando Norris and Ricciardo once again looked to be struggling to break the top 10.

Whilst the Alpha Tauries were looking strong, Sebastien Vettel was another shock as he was going strong in P9 for Aston Martin. Shades of what could have been for Aston Martin had Lance Stroll not had to take an engine penalty.

With the session coming to a close it was very much advantage Red Bull, but are Mercedes hiding performance, or have the charging bulls cemented their place back at the top of the Grid.