Lando Norris topped the grid in impressive fashion in final practice at the Mexico City Grand Prix to set himself up for pole in Saturday night’s qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton second for Ferrari.
Having raised concerns about McLaren’s one-lap pace around the Autodrome Hermanos Rodriguez at the end of Friday’s race, the British team and driver must have found something special on their return to the track on Saturday as they opened up an unexpectedly wide gap on the field on soft tires at the end of the session.
Norris set a best lap of 1:16.633, which was 0.345 seconds quicker than surprise second-fastest Hamilton, and half a second faster than the others – including his two title rivals.
Norris’ championship-leading team-mate Oscar Piastre, who leads the Briton by 14 points in the standings, and Red Bull in-form Max Verstappen finished a distant fifth and sixth. That was a particularly worrying gap for Pjastrij given that they drive the same car.
“Lando was on fire in this session. Even in his race yesterday,” he said Ski Sports F1 Karun Chandhok.
“Obviously he’s in a good rhythm on this track. We all talk about Verstappen chasing the McLarens, but Lando is also chasing Oscar from Zandvoort.”
The frontrunners were separated by hundredths rather than tenths of a second earlier on the medium tires earlier in the session before Norris’ stunning late burst on the softs.
“Let’s wait and see when we get to qualifying if that kind of advantage from P3 still holds,” Chandhok added.
Although their final gap to Norris was wide, Mercedes also appear in the mix at the front after third fastest lap with George Russell. Teammate Kimi Antonelli was a tenth behind him in seventh place.
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Lewis Hamilton went off the track three times during final practice ahead of the Mexico City Grand Prix
Charles Leclerc jumped to fourth on his final lap of the session, although this was still two-tenths of a second slower than team-mate Hamilton, who can be pleased with his lap on the soft tires in a performance that bodes well for his qualifying prospects.
Hamilton recovered well from a sloppy start to the session when the Brit on his own bounced off the track three times.
Isack Hadjar was eighth for Racing Bulls, but the Frenchman endured a difficult hour on the team radio, twice lashing out at drivers – first Norris and then Alpine’s Pierre Gasly – for getting in his way, describing each as “idiots”.
Yuki Tsunoda was ninth in the other Red Bull, but just a tenth behind team leader Verstappen, while Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoletto rounded out the top 10.
Fernando Alonso completed the fewest laps of any driver, 12, and finished bottom of the timesheets after a right-front problem in his Aston Martin ruled him out of the final runs on soft tyres.
Ski Sports F1 Mexico City Grand Prix schedule
Saturday, October 25
21:00: Compilation of qualifications for the Mexico City Grand Prix*
22:00: QUALIFYING FOR THE MEXICAN GP*
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Take a look back at some of the most dramatic moments that took place at the Mexico City Grand Prix
Sunday, October 26
18.30: Grand Prix Sunday: Opening of the Mexico City Grand Prix*
20:00: MEXICO CITY GRAND PRICA*
22:00: Checkered flag: Mexico City Grand Prix reaction
*also in the Ski Sports main event
The exciting race for the Formula 1 title continues at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez for the Mexico City Grand Prix this weekend, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Ski Sports from NOW – no contract, cancel anytime