F1: Verstappen nips Albon in close Mexico Practice 3

Max Verstappen put up a lap of 1m17.887s to beat an on-form Alex Albon’s Williams by just 0.070s in final practice for the Mexico City GP.

–by Mark Cipolloni–

Verstappen complained of traffic on his fast lap, so we do not know his ultimate pace but make no mistake about it, the Williams are rapid here on merit.

Sergio Perez was 0.139s down on his Red Bull teammate for 3rd position in front of 120,000 cheering Mexicans at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

George Russell was 4th for Mercedes, 0361s back and better than his teammate Lewis Hamilton was struggling down in 10th, 0.635s behind.

Oscar Piastri was the fastest McLaren in 5th, 0.505s behind the Dutchman.

There’s more to come from McLaren certainly, and Ferrari didn’t manage to get any clean flying laps in so are very much an unknown quantity heading into qualifying.

With the gaps between the teams so tight, this could all come down to the drivers and who likes the feel of this track. So far, it looks like Albon, Bottas and Ricciardo are the three ‘midfield’ runners to watch, who might fancy mixing it up in the top 10 later on.

Aston Martin still are struggle out there. Both drivers complained on the radio about tire wear and balance, and in finishing P14 and P17… It’s not been straightforward as they continue to assess and learn about their new floor.

Alpine also finished well down the order, Gasly 18th and Ocon propping up the timing screens. Yes, Ocon did abort his opening flying lap thanks to a lock up, and yes, he also went out early before the track was fully optimized. But even so… They look up against it to make Q3 later on.

Verstappen will be favorite for pole, to back up his P1 start from last year. But it looks like his former teammate Albon could be a force to be reckoned with. He’s good over one lap in general, his car seems good here full stop – and he would be a very popular figure if he could stick it on the front row.

2023 Mexico City GP Practice 3 Results