Reigning World Champion Lando Norris claimed the top spot in a tightly contested final practice session ahead of the Mexico City Grand Prix, edging championship contender Kimi Antonelli by a mere 0.001 seconds on Saturday at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.
Norris clocked a lap of 1 minute 17.600 seconds in the closing minutes of the hour-long session. Antonelli, who stands on the cusp of claiming his maiden drivers’ title this weekend, had previously held the benchmark before the McLaren driver found a final fraction of improvement. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc recovered from an earlier mistake on the soft tyres to secure third place, finishing just over a tenth of a second off the pace.
Action commenced at 11:30 local time when Ryo Hirakawa headed out of the pit lane. The Toyota World Endurance Championship driver, who is stepping in to replace Esteban Ocon at Haas for the remainder of the weekend after participating in Friday’s opening practice, spent the morning circulating to gather vital data ahead of his Formula 1 debut.
The session brought early trouble for other contenders. Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto suffered an immediate power unit issue that sent smoke billowing from the back of his car, forcing the Brazilian to return to the pits without setting a timed lap. Meanwhile, home favourite Sergio Perez failed to post a lap after Cadillac opted for a precautionary power unit change on his car ahead of qualifying, leaving the Mexican driver facing a grid penalty.
As track conditions evolved, drivers tested the medium Pirelli compound before switching to soft tyres for qualifying simulations in the final 20 minutes. Mercedes driver George Russell struggled with car balance during his attempt, radioing his team that Turn 12 felt poor due to a lack of rear grip. Others pushed past the limits as times tumbled, with Lewis Hamilton suffering oversteer on the exit of the final corner and Max Verstappen running deep at Turn 4.
Behind the leading trio, Oscar Piastri took fourth place for McLaren, while Verstappen placed fifth for Red Bull. Hamilton, Russell, Isack Hadjar, and the Racing Bulls duo of Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad rounded out the top ten. Nico Hulkenberg finished eleventh for Audi, followed by the Alpine entries of Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly, Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, and Haas driver Ollie Bearman. The lower order was filled out by Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon for Williams, Lance Stroll of Aston Martin, Hirakawa, and Valtteri Bottas in the Cadillac.
