Free Practice 3 – Mexico: Only 14 Thousandths Separate Rosberg and Hamilton

Third and final practice session scheduled before today’s qualifications and already, the first drama unfolded 15 minutes in when the engine of Kimi Räikkönen’s Ferrari went up in smoke. It’s the worst timing for this failure as the Scuderia won’t have much time to enable the Finn to participate in the qualifications in less than 3 hours.

The conditions are much better today, and rain should not disrupt the work of the teams and their drivers. The track, still green, has dried out, however.

The hardest tires are out in the first half-hour and, like yesterday, it’s the two Red Bulls of Daniil Kvyat and Daniel Ricciardo that occupy the first two positions. The advantage is with the Australian today, who consistently improves to snatch the best time with 1.22.909, just 45 thousandths ahead of the Russian.

The Williams also make an appearance and Felipe Massa takes first place with 1:22.729 just before Ricciardo reclaims his position with almost half a second lead over the Brazilian.

In the last half-hour, the drivers start switching to soft tires. And it’s Sebastian Vettel who immediately sets the fastest time with 1:21.871, just ahead of Max Verstappen. The Mercedes team remains very discreet during this session and seems to have opted to prepare for the race with fuel and medium tires. But even in these conditions, Lewis Hamilton sets the fastest time while Nico Rosberg is in 3rd place.

For the last quarter hour, both Mercedes put on soft tires and take charge of the session, with Rosberg ahead of Hamilton by 14 thousandths! The session ends and Sergio Pérez takes the opportunity to greet his fans who have come in large numbers to support him.

The complete standings of FP3: