Mexican Grand Prix – Free Practice 3: Verstappen once again supported by Albon

Surprising fourth in the second free practice sessions, Valtteri Bottas was the first to go out on track for this final training session at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. After handing over his car to Théo Pourchaire during the first session of the weekend, a little slide of his rear end in the esses showed that the Finnish driver was pushing hard to make up for the loss of his Friday morning session.

The other driver who was learning to tame his car at the beginning of the session was Pierre Gasly. Like Bottas, the Norman driver had let a young rookie take his car for the first free practice session, the Australian currently in fourth place in the F2 standings: Jack Doohan. Like many drivers this weekend, the Frenchman slipped on the particularly high kerb of turn number 12. He ended up upside down and was forced to drive against the direction of the track to get back to the official layout.

With its high altitude and long straight line of the pits, the Mexican Grand Prix is a race that perfectly suits the characteristics of Williams. By the mid-session, Logan Sargeant and Alexander Albon confirmed the hopes placed in them by respectively occupying the 8th and 9th positions. Thanks to the disqualifications of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton in Texas, the James Wolves drivers had both reached the points zone. Despite a lack of developments since Canada, the Grove team could well replicate this result this weekend, but this time, not through disqualifications. To achieve this, the British team could rely on the poor form of Aston Martin and Alpine, which traditionally haven’t been particularly comfortable on the straight lines this season.

Higher up in the ranking, without much surprise, the two Red Bulls once again delivered. While the fastest lap was initially in the hands of George Russell, Max Verstappen had to make two attempts to snatch it back from the British driver. Indeed, the scorching heat in the air and on the track caused the soft tires to melt almost instantly, preventing drivers from putting in multiple attacking laps. This severe tire degradation, along with Pirelli supplying a softer range than last year, should prompt the strategists of each team to avoid the red-banded tires during the 71 laps of the Grand Prix.

13th and 15th on the timesheet, the Ferraris didn’t have the opportunity to show their pace on a single lap after Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz were blocked in the fast section of the circuit. The Monegasque’s effort was hindered by Kevin Magnussen’s Haas, and the Spaniard’s by Lance Stroll. The Danish driver had spent the entire session in the garage after noticing a handling issue with his VF-23. The Haas driver seemed to still be preoccupied with his technical problems as his engineer had warned him about the imminent approach of Ferrari at number 16.

For the third consecutive time, it is Max Verstappen who has reached the top of the standings in a free practice session in Mexico. And for the second consecutive time, it is Alexander Albon who has separated the two Red Bulls. The Thai driver completed a lap only 70 milliseconds slower than that of his former teammate. With the presence of both AlphaTauri cars in the Top 10, they could be one of the surprises of this weekend.