Norris comfortably tops FP3 in Mexico

Written by Jason Sharp

The third and final hour-long practice session was the last chance for the teams and drivers to fully get to grips with the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.

Norris topped FP3 with a time of 1:16.633 | Credit: Formula One

Grip was the key talking point, with many drivers complaining about a lack of it through the rear tyres, especially those running with lesser downforce setups such as Max Verstappen.  

In usual FP3 fashion, many teams opted to delay their running and save their components until the track reached a higher temperature and was more representative of qualifying conditions.

One early taker to the track was Lewis Hamilton, who suffered a large lock up into Turn 1 and subsequently flat-spotted his right-front tyre. Lando Norris had a similar issue into Turn 4.

The drivers then laid down what they truly had for one-lap pace, with the time sheet changing continuously as everyone did their low fuel, soft tyre runs. The only driver not to do a one-lap run was Fernando Alonso, who suffered issues towards the end of the session and had to watch on from his Aston Martin garage.

Norris went on to set the quickest time of the session with a 1:16.633 and had a convincing gap of 0.345 seconds to Ferrari’s Hamilton.

Lewis Hamilton ended the session in P2 | Credit: Formula One

George Russell finished P3 ahead of Charles Leclerc in P4, and championship leader Oscar Piastri was P5, 0.599 seconds off his teammate Norris.

Verstappen, one of the vocal complainers about a lack of grip, could only manage P6 for Red Bull with Kimi Antonelli behind him in P7.

Isack Hadjar was angry to be impeded by Pierre Gasly but managed P8 ahead of Yuki Tsunoda, who showed some better pace in P9. Gabriel Bortoleto impressively rounded out the top ten for Sauber.   

Looking Ahead

Qualifying for the 25^th Grand Prix in Mexico City looks like it will be one of the closest we have ever seen.

Although we do not know what the fuel loads were, this result will be a large confidence boost for Norris as he tries to close the 14-point deficit to Piastri with only five rounds to go.

Ferrari achieved their last win to date in Mexico 12 months ago and look evenly matched with Mercedes to fight for a podium spot.

The only certainty is that qualifying will be decided by the smallest of margins, which will be crucial in deciding who will be in the best position for the 800-meter run towards Turn 1 on race day.