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The first day of running for the 2022 F1 Mexican GP is done and dusted as the 90-minute FP2 with its prototype tire test came to a conclusion.
The session saw George Russell, Yuki Tsunoda, and Esteban Ocon play catchup as they completed their 45 mins of running on conventional tires. The Mercedes driver ended the session on top with a time that was around nine-tenths quicker than Tsunoda in AlphaTauri.
Although the running was largely unrepresentative, some parts helped understand the pecking order and how the cars were behaving on the track. So, what did we learn from the running in FP2? Let's find out.
2022 F1 Mexican GP FP2: Key Learnings!
#1 Sergio Perez looks invigorated
If there is one key takeaway from both sessions, then it is the impressive run that Sergio Perez has had as compared to his teammate.
While Max Verstappen's low fuel run in FP1 was compromised by his spin, a time that matches your teammate is still very impressive. Even in FP2, Perez often found himself lapping at a similar pace to his teammate. While we do not have much idea of the tires or the fuel levels with which both drivers put together their best times, what is evident is that Perez seems invigorated for the 2022 F1 Mexican GP and is up for a fight to win the race.
#2 George Russell's struggles continue
George Russell is not having the best of times in Mercedes. The last few races have seen him complain about the brakes and a lack of overall feeling in the car. In the 2022 F1 Mexican GP FP2, the driver was not happy with the way the car was behaving. Russell complained of low overall grip throughout his run and while he did top the times, the contrast in the demeanor of the two Mercedes drivers says it all when it comes to relative confidence on the two sides of the garage for the 2022 F1 Mexican GP.
#3 That's a lot of damage for Ferrari!
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner had earlier pointed out a surprising statistic that Max Verstappen has had the least repairs of any driver on the entire grid this season. This makes you think of the various times Verstappen has spun or had an incident this season (there haven't been many of them though).
Verstappen's ability to keep everything together while minimizing the damage to his car has been extremely impressive. A primary example was his spin during FP1 earlier today. The Red Bull driver was on his low fuel-soft tire run but spun because of the low grip conditions. He, however, managed to keep his car away from the barriers and recovered well.
In contrast, Charles Leclerc had a different fate in store as he spun during FP2 at the same location as Verstappen but ended up in the wall, taking severe damage to his car. This was just another example of the difference the two drivers have in terms of the performance levels at which they operate. While Verstappen was able to control and minimize the damage, Leclerc binned it.
#4 Both Alfa Romeo and AlphaTauri look good
In what should be a bit of a surprise, both Alfa Romeo and AlphaTauri were able to translate their impressive form from the 2022 F1 Mexican GP FP1 session into the FP2 session as well. Both Pierre Gasly and Valtteri Bottas have been competitive when it comes to the kind of speed displayed in the midfield.
Concurrently, however, Alpine's Esteban Ocon appeared to struggle on his low fuel run, raising suspicions of the car not performing as well as it should. In all likelihood, the 2022 F1 Mexican GP could feature a very close battle and a mixed-up grid for the race.
#5 The cloud of reliability issues persists
A cloud of reliability hangs over the teams after multiple Power Unit issues in FP1. High-altitude conditions are a fresh challenge for these hybrid PUs that are running for the first time on E10 fuels. Except Mercedes, every other PU has encountered issues some way or the other.
In a race where attrition could be a problem with brake temperatures also proving to be critical, it won't be a surprise if teams take extra precautions on Saturday to ensure nothing goes wrong on Sunday.
