Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc headed Sebastian Vettel and Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas in a wet/dry F1 Mexico GP third practice session.
The overnight rain left the track pretty wet to start the FP3 session in F1 Mexico GP with the drivers opting to use the intermediate tyres for their first run. Everyone bar Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly and Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo completed the installation lap.
While Gasly had an upset tummy, Ricciardo was forced inside the garage due to hydraulic leak which the team found ahead of the session. It ended up being a disastrous session with Nico Hulkenberg also facing a similar issue with just the installation lap done.
It was a slow run due to the track conditions with Alfa Romeo Racing’s Kimi Raikkonen being the first one to switch to slick tyres towards the end of the session. Everyone followed as the times started to tumble with multiple drivers going quickest.
Ferrari’s Leclerc was the last to cross the line to end up the fastest in F1 Mexico GP FP3 session with a 1m16.145s ahead of teammate Vettel (1m16.172s) and the Mercedes pair of Bottas (1m16.259s) and Lewis Hamilton (1m16.381s).
Vettel had limited running due to sensor issue, which Ferrari were able to resolve. Behind the Top 2 teams, it was McLaren’s Carlos Sainz (1m16.638s) in fifth as he managed to finish ahead of Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen (1m16.903s).
Toro Rosso’s Gasly (1m17.090s) completed 10 laps towards the end to be seventh with Red Bull’s Alexander Albon (1m17.094s) slotting in eighth from McLaren’s Lando Norris (1m17.146s) and Racing Point’s Sergio Perez (1m17.207s) in the Top 10.
Toro Rosso’s Danill Kvyat (1m17.529s) was 11th, just outside the Top 10, with Alfa Romeo’s Raikkonen (1m17.740s) in 12th with Racing Point’s Lance Stroll (1m17.866s) 13th ahead of the other Alfa Romeo of Antonio Giovinazzi (1m17.881s).
The two Haas drivers Kevin Magnussen (1m18.132s) and Romain Grosjean (1m18.527s) were 15th and 16th, with Williams pair of George Russell (1m20.965s) and Robert Kubica (1m22.002s) in 17th and 18th – the two running the new front wing.
As mentioned earlier, neither Renault drivers got enough running with just the installation lap between Hulkenberg and Ricciardo. The French manufacturer couldn’t fix the hydraulic leak issue within the FP3 session.
Here’s how FP1 session in Mexico GP panned out
Here’s how FP2 session in Mexico GP panned out