F1 Mexico GP: Verstappen tops FP3 as Albon challenges

The Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz set the first somewhat representative times on the board in the opening minutes, with Leclerc's 1m19.283s heading his team-mate by 0.166s.

They were soon demoted by Mercedes duo George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, Russell leading with a 1m18.644s while the Red Bulls sat out the opening third of the session.

Gasly suffered a spin on his mediums run as he entered the Foro Sol arena, with an off-track excursion by Yuki Tsunoda in the same corner further proof that grip still came at a premium.

Season dominator Max Verstappen entered the fray after 22 minutes and split the two Mercedes cars with his first flyer, a 1.18.717s less than a tenth behind Russell.

His Mexican Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez, who was received with goal-like celebrations by the home crowd every time he passed through the iconic stadium section, opening his account with the sixth-fastest time.

AlphaTauri's Daniel Ricciardo then demoted Perez as he took fourth on medium tyres, six-tenths shy of Russell. The Australian benefitted from a generous tow by team-mate Tsunoda, foreshadowing the prospect of similar team tactics in qualifying.

Right before the halfway mark Verstappen's second effort of 1m18.429s was enough to knock Russell off the top spot by two-tenths, with Perez moving to third, another tenth in arrears.

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Alex Albon, Williams FW45

The next salvo of improvements arrived in the final third, led by an impressive 1m17.957s from Williams man Alex Albon, whose team had also been stronger than expected throughout Friday.

Russell's response brought him up to second, but he still had to cede three-tenths to Albon.

It took a solid effort by Verstappen to knock Albon off his perch, the Dutchman claiming the lead with 10 minutes to go.

His lap of 1m17.887s was only 0.070s quicker than Albon, though, as Verstappen complained of traffic on his run.

Perez took third just 0.139s behind Verstappen, followed by Russell, McLaren's Oscar Piastri, Alfa Romeo man Valtteri Bottas and Tsunoda. Lando Norris was up next in eighth for McLaren, ahead of his former team-mate Ricciardo.

Lewis Hamilton was only 10th in the second Mercedes as he appeared puzzled over his six-tenth gap to Verstappen.

The second Williams of Logan Sargeant was 11th followed by the second Alfa of Zhou Guanyu and Aston Martin's Lance Stroll.

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-23

Ferrari had a muted session after both Leclerc and Sainz encountered traffic on their final push lap which restricted them to 14th and 15th respectively. Sainz even suffered a spin through the esses as he was blocked by Stroll, appealing for a penalty for the "dangerous" Canadian.

Nico Hulkenberg was 16th for Haas while Aston Martin's struggles continued. Fernando Alonso was a distant 17th followed by Alpine duo Gasly. Kevin Magnussen was 19th after being limited to only one proper run, which was caused by left rear wheel damage.

With only one usable set left, Haas opted to only send the Dane back out near the end of the session.

Esteban Ocon propped up the timesheets in a session in which both Alpines struggled for grip.