Mexican Grand Prix – Free Practice 3: McLaren take the lead
Oscar Piastri set the fastest time of this third free practice session. The McLaren driver narrowly outpaced his teammate. The Ferraris, which had been dominant at the beginning of the session, struggled more in the final minutes. Max Verstappen is still having difficulties.
After a very eventful first day in Mexico, the drivers began this third free practice session in a much calmer manner. Apart from a small off-track excursion at the first corner for Pierre Gasly, there was nothing to report.
Involved in a violent accident this Friday, Georges Russell set the fastest time with his soft tires (1:18:224). Max Verstappen was 45 milliseconds behind. Lewis Hamilton was outperformed in the first fast lap with seven tenths of a second behind.
Ferrari in good shape at the start of the season
At the end of the first 15 minutes of riding, the Ferraris were dominating the session with a time below the 1 minute 18 mark for Carlos Sainz (1:17:825). Meanwhile, Sergio Perez, Kevin Magnussen, Alex Albon, Liam Lawson, and Franco Colapinto had still not taken to the track.
The second mistake of the session is to be credited to Liam Lawson. The New Zealander lost control of his VCARB on the exit of the stadium. The driver did not hit the wall and was able to continue his work. Lando Norris struggled to get into the rhythm. The British driver had difficulties to link together good laps, his McLaren slid several times.
Max Verstappen in retreat
For this session, Charles Leclerc had a fifth gearbox. The Monegasque will not be penalized, but he has reached the limit allowed by the regulations. Guanyu Zhou is in the same situation.
Struggling since the beginning of the weekend, Max Verstappen still didn’t seem able to challenge the leaders. The Dutchman was far behind his teammate. He was driving three tenths slower.
Up front, the two Ferraris were fighting to secure the best spot in the session. One moment it was Sainz, the next it was Leclerc, and so on. Behind, Yuki Tsunoda was trailing half a second behind the Spaniard (1:17:834).
It took until the last 15 minutes to see Max Verstappen at the top of the timesheet. With soft tires, the Red Bull driver made the difference in all sectors (1:17:003). Following suit, Lando Norris drove nearly half a second faster (1:16:551). Oscar Piastri then positioned himself ahead of his teammate with a slight improvement.
The leaders, at the top of the hierarchy, have not evolved. Oscar Piastri remained the fastest man.
The ranking of the session
| N° | Driver | Team | Times | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Piastri | McLaren F1 Team | 1:16:492 | 18 | |
| 2 | Norris | McLaren F1 Team | 1:16:551 | +0.059 | 18 |
| 3 | Sainz | Scuderia Ferrari | 1:16:832 | +0.340 | 21 |
| 4 | Verstappen | Oracle Red Bull Racing | 1:17:003 | +0.511 | 26 |
| 5 | Hamilton | Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport | 1:17:060 | +0.568 | 21 |
| 6 | Leclerc | Scuderia Ferrari | 1:17:232 | +0.740 | 24 |
| 7 | Tsunoda | Visa Cash App RB F1 Team | 1:17:302 | +0.810 | 20 |
| 8 | Russell | Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport | 1:17:341 | +0.849 | 28 |
| 9 | Magnussen | MoneyGram Haas F1 Team | 1:17:474 | +0.982 | 19 |
| 10 | Lawson | Visa Cash App RB F1 Team | 1:17:494 | +1.002 | 23 |
| 11 | Albon | Williams Racing | 1:17:511 | +1.019 | 19 |
| 12 | Bottas | Stake F1 Team | 1:17:639 | +1.147 | 25 |
| 13 | Colapinto | Williams Racing | 1:17:712 | +1.220 | 18 |
| 14 | Perez | Oracle Red Bull Racing | 1:17:787 | +1.295 | 19 |
| 15 | Alonso | Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team | 1:17:798 | +1.306 | 23 |
| 16 | Hülkenberg | MoneyGram Haas F1 Team | 1:17:819 | +1.327 | 20 |
| 17 | Stroll | Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team | 1:17:900 | +1.408 | 26 |
| 18 | Ocon | BWT Alpine F1 Team | 1:18:324 | +1.832 | 19 |
| 19 | Guanyu | Stake F1 Team | 1:18:428 | +1.936 | 18 |
| 20 | Gasly | BWT Alpine F1 Team | 1:18:454 | +1.962 | 20 |
