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Mexican GP FP2: Daniel Ricciardo fastest for Red Bull

Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo set the pace in the second Formula 1 free practice session for the Mexican Grand Prix

The Australian first hit the top of the timesheets early in the 90-minute session with his pace on soft Pirellis, shading team-mate Max Verstappen.

But with first Valtteri Bottas and then Lewis Hamilton switching to ultra-softs and going fastest shortly after the 30-minute mark, Ricciardo was shuffled down to third.

Ricciardo then took to the track on ultra-softs, posting a 1m17.801s lap to reclaim top spot.

Hamilton ended the session second with a lap 0.131s slower than Ricciardo having improved on his second serious flier on ultra-softs.

The Mercedes driver earlier spun at Turn 11, ending up in the runoff area of the quick left-hander, but did not sustain any damage.

His pace was enough to put him just ahead of Verstappen, who was just 0.032s slower. His running was subsequently cut short as a precaution thanks to high oil consumption.

Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel's session was briefly interrupted when his car's fire extinguisher went off, sending him back to the pits for a change of overalls.

When he returned to the track, he suffered an off-track moment at Turn 11 before setting a time good enough for fourth fastest at the halfway mark.

Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen was fifth fastest having briefly held second place behind Hamilton when he set his time before being shuffled back down.

Bottas, who set the pace in the morning session, was sixth and half-a-second off Ricciardo having complained of having significantly less grip than before.

Fernando Alonso, who was briefly fastest early on, delayed his ultra-soft run until there were 35 minutes remaining to set the seventh fastest time.

That relegated Force India's Sergio Perez to eighth ahead of Nico Hulkenberg and Esteban Ocon, the latter having sat out the first session to allow Alfonso Celis Jr some running.

On his second grand prix appearance, Toro Rosso driver Brendon Hartley split the two Williams machines in 13th place.

Hartley later spun in the middle of the Turn 6 hairpin, but was able to continue.

McLaren's Stoffel Vandoorne was 15th after missing most of the first session and then losing time early in the afternoon thanks to a loose wheel.

Pierre Gasly was 19th in the second Toro Rosso, having missed FP1 for Sean Gelael on his return to F1 after missing the United States Grand Prix. He was only able to complete 10 laps.

Romain Grosjean caused an early red flag when he spun exiting the final right-hander at Turn 17 just after the three-minute mark.

Although he kept the Haas-Ferrari out of the wall and rejoined, he then suffered a delamination of the left-rear tyre while on the main straight.

This led to bodywork damage and a nine-minute red flag while marshals cleared the debris from the track.

He did not return to the track, meaning he was 7.725s off the pace having only set one lap time early on.

FP2 times

Pos Driver Car Gap Laps
1 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull/Renault 1m17.801s 26
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 0.131s 40
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Renault 0.163s 17
4 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 0.250s 35
5 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 0.341s 40
6 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 0.498s 43
7 Fernando Alonso McLaren/Honda 0.707s 26
8 Sergio Perez Force India/Mercedes 0.927s 41
9 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 0.974s 19
10 Esteban Ocon Force India/Mercedes 1.021s 42
11 Carlos Sainz Jr. Renault 1.259s 30
12 Felipe Massa Williams/Mercedes 1.405s 37
13 Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso/Renault 1.622s 40
14 Lance Stroll Williams/Mercedes 1.723s 42
15 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren/Honda 2.043s 32
16 Pascal Wehrlein Sauber/Ferrari 2.505s 38
17 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 2.517s 35
18 Marcus Ericsson Sauber/Ferrari 2.561s 38
19 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso/Renault 3.944s 10
20 Romain Grosjean Haas/Ferrari 7.725s 3


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