Max Verstappen was once again the fastest in the third and final free practice of the Mexican Grand Prix in Formula 1, leading all the sessions so far at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. Alexander Albon surprised again.
In the early stages, Ferrari set the pace with Charles Leclerc ahead of Carlos Sainz, but they were soon beaten by George Russell and Lewis Hamilton from Mercedes. Meanwhile, Verstappen and his Red Bull teammate Sergio Pérez took to the track later.
With just over 22 minutes gone, Verstappen emerged on track and immediately reached second place. Shortly after, Daniel Ricciardo (AlphaTauri) placed himself in fourth. Around the halfway point of the session, Verstappen took the lead and Pérez finished third.
Within the last 20 minutes, a sensational change in the lead occurred: Albon (Williams) was the first to enter the 1m17s and was only surpassed in the last ten minutes by Verstappen. The reigning champion was only 70 milliseconds faster. Pérez improved to finish third, 0.139s behind, followed by Russell and Oscar Piastri (McLaren).
Alfa Romeo once again had good indications from Valtteri Bottas with the sixth fastest time. On the other hand, Ferrari was unable to keep up with the pace at the front after leading in the early stages: Leclerc finished 14th, just ahead of Sainz, who spun during the practice. Aston Martin also doesn’t have many reasons to smile, with Lance Stroll in 14th and Fernando Alonso in a modest 17th position.
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