Max Verstappen has topped the timesheets in final practice for the Mexican Grand Prix.
He set the fastest time of 1m19.137s on the supersoft tyres as everyone completed their qualification simulations at the end of the 60 minute session.
The early pace was held by Lewis Hamilton, who was five-tenths clear of Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg on the soft tyre.
Most of the 22 drivers came out at the same time to start their qualification simulations at the end of the session, meaning that traffic played a big part in lap times. Only Verstappen managed to get a clean lap, putting him 0.094 seconds faster than Hamilton, who finished second.
Daniel Ricciardo split the Mercedes, leaving Rosberg down in fourth. However, the pace of the top 10 was very close, with the top eight covered by only eighth-tenths of a second.
Valtteri Bottas kept up Williams’ impressive running as he was fifth, six-tenths off the pace. The Ferrari duo, led by Sebastian Vettel, took sixth and seventh, with Felipe Massa being the last driver within a second of the fastest lap.
Nico Hulkenberg and Carlos Sainz Jr rounded up the top 10.
Once again, Williams look to have a superior pace on Force India which could help them close down the gap for fourth in the Constructors’ Championship. They have been ahead in all three practice sessions and will be hoping to stay ahead in qualifying and the race.
McLaren had a horrible beginning to the session, with both cars at the bottom of the timesheets four seconds off the pace. Putting on the supersoft tyres, the pace improved to get them 13th and 15th respectively – with Fernando Alonso ahead.
The practice sessions have given such a mixed result, it isn’t clear who will be the best when it comes to qualifying and the race. However, Mercedes cannot be written off as key contenders for pole position. Ferrari looked better yesterday but whether they can regain that pace for qualifying will determine if they can be a threat or not for pole.
