Mexico – Free Practice 3: Verstappen and Red Bull reposition themselves ahead of qualifying

In late morning in Mexico, temperatures were rising compared to Friday, as the clouds had largely dissipated. All drivers are starting this third and final practice session on yellow-striped soft tires.

The Haas cars of Romain Grosjean and Esteban Gutierrez are the first to hit the track at the Mexican circuit for an installation lap. The American cars were known to be hampered by reliability issues during the previous day’s testing. Esteban Ocon in the Manor is the first driver to clock a timed lap with 1:32.013.

A few minutes later, the Mercedes cars also set their own lap times at a still “relaxed” pace. Lewis Hamilton noted over the radio that he detected some vibrations on the front left wheel. Nevertheless, the Silver Arrows take the top two spots on the timesheet, with the Briton in the lead with a time of 1:20.158.

A little over 15 minutes after the session opened, Hamilton beats Vettel’s fastest lap from the previous day, clocking a lap in 1:19.721, more than half a second ahead of his German teammate, before returning to his garage. At the same time, Kimi Räikkönen heads to the track.

It’s a little before the mid-session that the two Red Bull Renaults leave their garage to join the circuit. Shortly after, Sebastian Vettel secures the second-best time at 1:20.048, positioning himself between the Mercedes drivers with the fastest time in the first sector.

Right at mid-session, things pick up as the Red Bull performances shake up the hierarchy: Verstappen overtakes Vettel, before the Dutchman is himself beaten by his Australian teammate Ricciardo by nine-thousandths of a second. Räikkönen, for his part, is hindered by traffic and can’t deliver a revealing performance, placing 11th on the timesheet at that moment. The rest is rather calm with some drivers doing timed laps at race pace while others return to the pits.

A little less than a quarter before the end of the session, Marcus Ericsson in his Sauber is the first driver to set a benchmark on super-soft tires, followed by Felipe Massa’s Williams which is provisionally in 4th place.

For the last ten minutes, all the drivers rush to set a mark on super-soft tires, where traffic and the delicate warming of the tires complicate the drivers’ task.

With five minutes remaining, the Red Bulls take the top two positions, with Verstappen leading with a time of 1:19.137. Despite a clear lap, Lewis Hamilton is unable to dislodge the Red Bull driver, falling short by less than a tenth of the Dutch leader who will not relinquish first position.

Ferraris, struggling in the third sector at the stadium entrance, settle for 6th and 7th positions, behind Valtteri Bottas and eight-tenths behind Max Verstappen.