Max Verstappen and Red Bull raise the stakes for the Mexican Grand Prix

No one can count Max Verstappen out. Although his chances are slim, he has his sights set on retaining the drivers' championship for the 2025 season and is willing to do anything to keep it.

To achieve this, he has the support of his team, Red Bull , which announced a package of updates for the RB21 with which it seeks to increase the performance of the car and, with it, the chances of Verstappen being able to surpass Oscar Piastri .

Among the updates, the team has introduced the latest version of its floor design, with a redesigned upper surface at the rear of the outer floor, which should generate additional downforce. The floor's lip spoiler has also been modified to interact with this new design.

The floor also received a revision in its interaction with the sidepods to provide improved cooling, taking into account the challenges posed by Mexico City 's altitude. For this reason, the team also implemented improvements to the brake ducts.

Max Verstappen's championship fight was the focal point of the second practice session for the Mexican Grand Prix , held in front of 101,327 fans who filled the Magdalena Mixhuca arena with excitement. The Dutch driver set the fastest time in the only session he participated in, with a time of 1:17.392 on the soft tyres. Although the Dutchman complained about the tyres' poor grip, he never appeared to be in any trouble.

Meanwhile, Charles Leclerc , one of the Mexican public's favorite drivers, also had a strong Friday at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez , dominating FP1 and finishing second in FP2 . The Monegasque driver also received improvements to his Ferrari, especially to the braking system.

As if that weren't enough, Max's chances of further closing the gap on the McLaren drivers look promising after the Woking team's performance on Friday. Championship leader Oscar Piastri, in particular, looked nervous during the first practice session, repeatedly going off track limits, and finished FP2 in 12th place .

Lando Norris , second in the drivers' championship, did not participate in the first session and finished in fourth place in the second.

This Saturday, the third and final free practice session will take place at 11:30 a.m. , followed by qualifying at 3:00 p.m.

MF