Mexico City GP: Max Verstappen fastest in third practice as Alex Albon shines for Williams ahead of qualifying

It could be a very tight qualifying on Saturday night in Mexico City as several teams were in the running behind Max Verstappen during final practice; watch qualifying live on Sky Sports F1 at 10pm, with build up from 9pm

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Alpine’s Pierre Gasly goes for a spin and narrowly avoids the wall in third practice ahead of the Mexico City Grand Prix

Max Verstappen led Alex Albon in an unusual final practice at the Mexico City Grand Prix with plenty of unknowns about the pecking order going into qualifying

Verstappen was just 0.070s ahead of Albon with five different teams in the top six in a continuation from Friday’s running as the field seems to be tightly bunched.

Sergio Perez was third from George Russell, who looked very quick straight out of the blocks as he initially set the fastest time of the weekend, in fourth.

Mercedes were disappointing on Friday but Russell clearly gelled with the car more at 0.361s behind Verstappen. Lewis Hamilton was 10th, a further three tenths back and was losing a lot of time at Turns 4 and 5.

Alfa Romeo are competitive in Mexico City with Valtteri Bottas in sixth, behind Oscar Piastri, and only half a second away from the leading pace. Bottas is somewhat of a specialist around the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, having taken pole position in 2021, and fares well on smooth surfaces.

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Former strategist Bernie Collins explains the impact the high altitude will have on the cars at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez

Ferraris involved with incidents at end of session

Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz were 13th and 15th respectively but did not get a proper soft tyre run under their belts due to traffic towards the end of the session.

Leclerc came across a slow Kevin Magnussen in the fast middle sector and was forced to back out, while Sainz spun to avoid Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin – the latter incident was noted but not investigated.

AlphaTauri had a strong showing with Yuki Tsunoda in seventh and Daniel Ricciardo ninth, underlining that it will be a big fight to get into Q3 later on Saturday.

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Look back at some of the most dramatic moments to have taken place at the Mexico City Grand Prix

When to watch the Mexico City GP live only on Sky Sports F1

Saturday
9pm: Mexico City GP Qualifying build-up (also on Sky Sports Main Event)
10pm: Mexico City GP Qualifying (also on Sky Sports Main Event)

Sunday
6.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday Mexico City GP build-up (also on Sky Sports Main Event)
8pm: The MEXICO CITY GRAND PRIX (also on Sky Sports Main Event)
10pm: Chequered Flag: Mexico City GP

F1 is in Mexico for the middle leg of the Americas triple header. Watch the whole Mexico City Grand Prix weekend live on Sky Sports F1, with Sunday’s race at 8pm. Stream F1 on Sky Sports with NOW