P3 in second Mexico practice: "Balance not right yet"

Published on 27 October 2017 by Stefan Meens

After setting the third quickest time in FP1, Max Verstappen once again occupied P3 I the second free practice session of the Mexican Grand Prix. His Red Bull Racing team mate Daniel Ricciardo was quickest, followed by Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes.

“The pace of the car was good”, said Max. “We weren’t able to a lot of laps this morning, because we tried some new parts for next year. I asked to switch back to this year’s parts and that takes time. At the start of the second session we were still looking to find the right balance. I’m not entirely happy with, but we still managed to be third. After that, we had some engine issues, but luckily they happened with an old engine.”

Stoffel Vandoorne (McLaren) and Kevin Magnussen (Haas) are the first two drivers on track. Both are eager to make for track time lost in FP1, when both their cars encountered technical difficulties.

Magnussen is the first driver to clock a lap, whilst his team mate, Romain Grosjean, has to account for the first save of day, after barely keeping his Haas out of the barriers. Despite missing the wall, Grosjean’s right rear tyre has delaminated and damaged the floor of the car, resulting in debris lying accros the track. Race control decided to red flag the session in order to clear the track.

When the session resumes, Stoffel Vandoorne is once again eager to get the laps in. Unfortunately for the Belgian, he does not make it out on track; the McLaren driver is forced to park his car at the end of the pitlane.

Meanwhile Max and the other front runners have started putting their lap times in. Lewis Hamilton has a big off but manages to keep his Mercedes out of the wall, whilst Sebastian Vettel’s fire extinguisher blew in the cockpit.

At the halfway mark, with Ricciardo leading the way ahead of Hamilton and Max, the latter reports on the radio: “The engine is acting weird on pick-up”. Nevertheless, the Dutchman is able to continue.

Later, in the final half an hour, Max has to cut short his long run because of an engine problem. “It’s a Friday engine”, said Christian Horner, adamant the issue does not need to impact the rest of the weekend. It means Max finishes FP2 in third, behind Ricciardo and Hamilton.

Mexican Grand Prix - Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez - Friday 27 October

FREE PRACTICE 2 RESULTS

01  3 Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer   1:17.801          26
02 44 Lewis Hamilton      Mercedes                    1:17.932 +0.131s  40
03 33 Max Verstappen      Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer   1:17.964 +0.163s  17
04  5 Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari                     1:18.051 +0.250s  35
05  7 Kimi Räikkönen      Ferrari                     1:18.142 +0.341s  40
06 77 Valtteri Bottas     Mercedes                    1:18.299 +0.498s  43
07 14 Fernando Alonso     McLaren Honda               1:18.508 +0.707s  26
08 11 Sergio Perez        Force India Mercedes        1:18.728 +0.927s  41
09 27 Nico Hulkenberg     Renault                     1:18.775 +0.974s  19
10 31 Esteban Ocon        Force India Mercedes        1:18.822 +1.021s  42
11 55 Carlos Sainz        Renault                     1:19.060 +1.259s  30
12 19 Felipe Massa        Williams Mercedes           1:19.206 +1.405s  37
13 28 Brendon Hartley     Toro Rosso                  1:19.423 +1.622s  40
14 18 Lance Stroll        Williams Mercedes           1:19.524 +1.723s  42
15  2 Stoffel Vandoorne   McLaren Honda               1:19.844 +2.043s  32
16 94 Pascal Wehrlein     Sauber Ferrari              1:20.306 +2.505s  38
17 20 Kevin Magnussen     Haas Ferrari                1:20.318 +2.517s  35
18  9 Marcus Ericsson     Sauber Ferrari              1:20.362 +2.561s  38
19 10 Pierre Gasly        Toro Rosso                  1:21.745 +3.944s  10
20  8 Romain Grosjean     Haas Ferrari                1:25.526 +7.725s  3

Mexican GP contest: win a MV RBR hoodie and sweat pants!