[ad_1]
As the session entered into its final minutes, Zhou Guanyu, Norris, Alonso, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc – who all handed their cars over to rookies in FP1 – bolted on the medium tyres, but none could better Sainz’s benchmark time, keeping the Ferrari man on top.
Piastri and Yuki Tsunoda completed the top three for McLaren and RB respectively, while Leclerc and Norris put themselves into fourth and fifth. Kevin Magnussen was sixth for Haas, ahead of Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas, Perez and Liam Lawson.
READ MORE: ‘A league of his own’ – Alonso’s fellow drivers pay tribute to the Spanish superstar ahead of his 400th Grand Prix appearance
Alonso slotted into P11 from Nico Hulkenberg, Esteban Ocon, Lance Stroll and Franco Colapinto, the latter acting as Williams’s sole runner in the session. Pierre Gasly followed in P16 for Alpine, with Kick Sauber’s Zhou behind in P17.
Russell was classified in 18th, the Mercedes driver sidelined by his crash, while Verstappen and Albon ended the hour at the bottom of the timesheets after limited running for the former and no track time for the latter.
With Friday’s track action at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez now complete, the drivers and teams will examine their data before returning for third and final practice at 1130 local time on Saturday – ahead of qualifying later on at 1400.
[ad_2]
