FP3: Piastri heads dominant McLaren one-two in final practice
McLaren driver Oscar Piastri displayed an impressive performance in the third and final practice session at the Mexico City Grand Prix, heading his team-mate Lando Norris and the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz. F1Technical's lead journalist Balazs Szabo reports on Free Practice 3.
After a disrupted opening day at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, which featured several red flags and a dedicated Pirelli tyre test, drivers were keen on completing an uninterrupted final one-hour session.
After the opening part of the session was dominated by the Ferraris of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc, McLaren lowered the bar significantly when they sent Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri out for their second soft-tyre qualifying simulation run.
The Australian went fastest on a 1m 16.492s as his team-mate Norris slotted into a close second. Sainz, who finished FP2 on the top of the leaderboard, was third-quickest, but he was over three tenths of a second adrift of the leading McLarens.
Reigning world champion Max Verstappen constantly complained about a lack of grip, but he was still able to set the fifth-quickest lap, ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Leclerc.
RB's Yuki Tsunoda continued to impress in the final practice, finishing seventh. Having crashed into the barriers at Turn 9 in second practice, George Russell was eager to make up for the lost time. The Briton finished in P8, with Haas driver Kevin Magnussen and RB racer Liam Lawson completing the top 10 positions.
Having missed the second practice after his high-speed crash in FP1, Williams driver Alexander Albon returned to action to finish in P11, followed by the lead Kick Sauber of Valtteri Bottas, Williams stand-in Franco Colapinto and home hero Sergio Perez, who continued to struggle for balance in the low-speed corners.
Ahead of his 400th F1 race, Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso had a quiet session, taking only 15th, followed by Nico Hulkenberg and his team-mate Lance Stroll.
The Alpine drivers Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly finished in 18th and 20th around the Kick Sauber of Zhou Guanyu.
