Lando Norris enjoyed a clear lead in FP3 at the Mexico City Grand Prix, while Max Verstappen and title leader Oscar Piastri struggled for pace.
Norris needed just one run on soft tires to overturn a tight battle for first place, with the McLaren driver setting the benchmark at 1m16.633s. Setting three purple sectors along the way, he was 0.345 seconds clear at the top of the table, 0.599 seconds ahead of teammate Piastri and 0.609 seconds ahead of title challenger Verstappen.
Instead of the title contenders putting pressure on Norris for the top spot, Lewis Hamilton followed in second, with the Ferrari driver’s final sector covering more than half of his gap to the leader.
George Russell made it three teams in the top three, but the Mercedes driver was 0.512 seconds slower than Norris, even as he led a tight group of frontrunners behind him.
Charles Leclerc improved late with a second flying lap to finish fourth and 0.054 seconds behind Russell, with Piastri following a further 0.033 seconds behind despite two attempts at a qualifying time. As was the case on Friday, most of the Australian’s deficit to his teammate came in the twisty middle sector, comprising Turns 4 to 11, where he lost 0.347 seconds to Norris.
Verstappen needed three laps on soft tires to rise to sixth place, 0.01 seconds behind Piastri. Red Bull Racing sent the Dutchman out unusually early in FP3, with flow-fish paint on his rear wing, indicating the team had to validate significant changes to the RB21 overnight in the quest for better grip to improve the car’s predicted race pace. If it worked, it was at the expense of Verstappen’s fastest lap pace on Friday.
“No grip, front and rear,” he said via radio during his qualifying runs.
Kimi Antonelli finished seventh and 0.011 seconds behind Verstappen at the tail of the tight leading group.
Isack Hadjar was the best of the midfielders in eighth despite being furious about an encounter with a slow-moving Pierre Gasly later in the session. Yuki Tsunoda was ninth, adrift of the leaders but only 0.173 seconds slower than Verstappen, while Gabriel Bortoleto completed the top 10 for Sauber, the Brazilian 0.893 seconds off the pace.
Liam Lawson made a mistake on his first lap on soft tires and finished eleventh, ahead of Esteban Ocon, Lance Stroll and Nico Hulkenberg.
Williams drivers Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon were 1.168 seconds and 1.361 seconds off the pace respectively in a car that struggled in the major braking zones, with both drivers repeatedly seen off track. Albon’s session later ended with a problem with the power unit.
Oliver Bearman finished 17th, ahead of Alpine drivers Gasly and Colapinto, the last of the drivers with a representative time.
Fernando Alonso’s session ended after just 12 laps and without a representative soft lap due to technical problems with his Aston Martin.
RESULTS
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