Max Verstappen topped to the top of the timesheet going into Qualifying in a very competitive Final Practice session at the Mexican Grand Prix between Red Bull, Mercedes and Ferrari.
Five of the six drivers would be covered by less than a quarter of a second as the Dutchman posted a new lap record of 1:17.133s on the Ultrasoft tyres, pipping Lewis Hamilton by just 0.075s.
The championship leader’s best would come a little later than the 20-year-old, as a loss of power from his Mercedes engine on his first run required a recalibration. What will please Hamilton too, is the deficit falls in the time difference usually made up with the special qualifying modes available to the drivers in Q3.
Sebastian Vettel indicated Ferrari had made progress after a difficult Friday claiming third ahead of Valtteri Bottas and Daniel Ricciardo. Kimi Raikkonen was sixth but a tenth or so back from the leading group.
A major battle is building between Force India and Renault to be the lead midfield team and over a single lap, it is the Silverstone outfit which has the edge versus the French manufacturer.
Sergio Perez thrilled his home crowd by taking seventh ahead of teammate Esteban Ocon, while Carlos Sainz was a tenth-and-a-half back in ninth with Nico Hulkenberg 10th.
Brendon Hartley was an impressive 11th for Toro Rosso, beating the underwhelming Williams’ of Felipe Massa and Lance Stroll. Unfortunately, the problems continued across the garage with the Kiwi’s teammate Pierre Gasly once again suffering from engine trouble, meaning he will go into Qualifying with just 10 laps of experience around the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
Kevin Magnussen had to undergo a pre-session fitness test after a medical issue on Friday but was passed fit. The Dane’s Haas team continue to struggle, however, as M-Kag was only 14th with teammate Romain Grosjean 17th in his first running since Friday’s spin and resulting tyre failure.
After being ‘best of the rest’ on Friday, Fernando Alonso was only 16th quickest on Saturday morning as attention was on high fuel runs due to the pending grid penalty, teammate Stoffel Vandoorne likewise was on a different run plan and was slowest of those to set a time.
The other notable story was Pascal Wehrlein missing much of the session with an electrical before venturing out late as the German struggled in 18th for Sauber.
