In a dramatic turn of events just over 10 minutes into the second practice session for the Mexico City Grand Prix, Mercedes driver George Russell struck the barriers at Turn 9 after taking too much of the kerb at Turn 8. Fortunately, Russell walked away unscathed, though the incident brought out the red flags and necessitated the deployment of the Medical Car to take him to the medical center for a precautionary check-up.

The stop allowed Red Bull an opportunity to investigate ongoing issues with Max Verstappen's car. However, even as action resumed with 54 minutes remaining, Verstappen's RB20 continued to experience the same problem, forcing him back into the pits.

Meanwhile, Alex Albon remained off the track as the Williams team worked diligently to repair his FW46 following a collision with Ollie Bearman during the first practice session. As the session progressed, Carlos Sainz set the pace with a lap time of 1m 17.699s on the C4 tyre, placing him 0.178s ahead of McLaren's Oscar Piastri.

Despite the session being primarily focused on tire testing, several drivers were eager for some race-like action. Notably, Lando Norris enjoyed a wheel-to-wheel duel with Fernando Alonso as the Aston Martin driver approached his milestone 400th race this weekend.

Towards the closing stages of the session, drivers like Zhou Guanyu, Norris, Alonso, Lewis Hamilton, and Charles Leclerc - who had all ceded their cars to rookies during FP1 - fitted medium tyres to their cars. Despite their efforts, none of them could surpass Sainz's leading time, ensuring the Ferrari driver remained at the top.

Piastri and Yuki Tsunoda rounded out the top three for McLaren and Red Bull, respectively, while Leclerc and Norris claimed fourth and fifth positions. Kevin Magnussen took sixth for Haas, followed by Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas, Sergio Perez, and Liam Lawson completing the top ten.

Fernando Alonso secured P11 ahead of Nico Hulkenberg, Esteban Ocon, Lance Stroll, and rookie Franco Colapinto, Williams' sole representative in the session. Pierre Gasly took P16 for Alpine, and Zhou Guanyu followed in P17. Russell, due to his crash, ended in 18th place, while Verstappen and Albon occupied the last two positions on the timesheets, with Verstappen's limited track activity and Albon's absence from the session.