FP3: Piastri leads McLaren 1-2 during final Mexico City GP practice session

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri topped Saturday’s third free practice session for the Mexico City Grand Prix, leading the way from team mate Lando Norris and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz in what was a much calmer outing.

After a disrupted opening day at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, which featured several red flags and a dedicated Pirelli tyre test, the final hour-long session gave drivers one more chance to work on their cars and make adjustments before qualifying.

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Several drivers returned to the track in repaired cars, with Mercedes breaking the curfew to get Russell’s heavily damaged machine back in shape after his dramatic FP2 crash – the Briton taking on a new chassis but avoiding power unit and gearbox damage.

Alex Albon’s Williams was also put back together following a run-in with Ferrari reserve Ollie Bearman and the wall during FP1, meaning another power unit was fitted for the remainder of the weekend but no penalty followed given that it came from his existing pool.

The same could be said for reigning world champion Max Verstappen, who encountered persistent engine problems in both FP1 and FP2 that were later linked to the air intake aboard his Red Bull – prompting mechanics to fit an older power unit.

Russell and Verstappen were unsurprisingly quick to head out when the session got under way, trading fastest lap times on the soft tyres in the opening minutes, albeit with the latter reporting over the radio that he had “no rear grip” in the low-speed corners.

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As the session developed, Sainz and Ferrari took over at the top – where they finished yesterday’s running – with a 1m 17.447s on softs, 0.169s clear of team mate Charles Leclerc, from Norris, home hero Sergio Perez and Mercedes pair Russell and Lewis Hamilton.

Another sequence of soft-shod runs lowered the benchmark further, with Leclerc, Sainz and Verstappen all spending phases at the top of the timesheets before McLaren made their move – Piastri going fastest on a 1m 16.492s as Norris slotted into a close second.

After some late improvements, Piastri and Norris remained in P1 and P2 over Sainz and Verstappen, who continued to lament a lack of grip, with Hamilton rounding out the top five but expressing surprise at his significant deficit to the McLarens.

Leclerc slipped back amid those improvements, not managing to make the same gains as team mate Sainz, leaving him sixth from the RB of Yuki Tsunoda, Russell and Haas driver Kevin Magnussen – the latter two squabbling for track position in the closing stages.

Liam Lawson completed the top 10 positions in his RB via a spin at the stadium section, followed by Albon, the lead Kick Sauber of Valtteri Bottas, Williams stand-in Franco Colapinto and Perez, who endured another difficult session in front of his passionate fans in the grandstands.

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Aston Martin duo Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll were only 15th and 17th respectively, split by the other Haas of Nico Hulkenberg, with Alpine drivers Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly back in 18th and 20th around the Kick Sauber of Zhou Guanyu.

Drivers and teams will now regroup in the paddock to dig through the data and carry out any final set-up changes, before returning to action later this afternoon with the all-important qualifying hour, which is set to begin at 1500 local time.