Max Verstappen was quickest in final practice ahead of qualifying for the Mexican Grand Prix, less than a tenth faster than Lewis Hamilton.
Daniel Ricciardo was third fastest in the second Red Bull, with championship leader Nico Rosberg in fourth, almost half a second slower than Verstappen.
The Ferraris of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen set almost identical fastest times, but were eight tenths off the ultimate pace in sixth and seventh, respectively.
Conditions were again cool, with air temperature only reaching 14 degrees Celsius. Esteban Gutierrez was heard over team radio complaining of being unable to get heat into his front tyres.
Traffic was an issue in the closing stages, with multiple drivers complaining of being held up by rivals who were attempting to make space for themselves in the final sector.
With all 22 drivers on circuit running qualifying simulations on super soft tyres, Max Verstappen lowered what would be the fastest time of the session – and the quickest ever lap around the revised Mexico City circuit – with a 1’19.137.
Rosberg, Raikkonen, Vettel and Jenson Button all made errors during their final runs, costing them time.
Aside from a brief trip across the grass in Turn One for Felipe Massa, there was little incident of note in the session.
Third practice visual gaps
Max Verstappen – 1’19.137
+0.094 Lewis Hamilton – 1’19.231
+0.233 Daniel Ricciardo – 1’19.370
+0.481 Nico Rosberg – 1’19.618
+0.674 Valtteri Bottas – 1’19.811
+0.800 Sebastian Vettel – 1’19.937
+0.857 Kimi Raikkonen – 1’19.994
+0.860 Felipe Massa – 1’19.997
+1.118 Nico Hulkenberg – 1’20.255
+1.188 Carlos Sainz Jnr – 1’20.325
+1.335 Sergio Perez – 1’20.472
+1.449 Daniil Kvyat – 1’20.586
+1.463 Fernando Alonso – 1’20.600
+1.822 Jolyon Palmer – 1’20.959
+2.108 Marcus Ericsson – 1’21.245
+2.201 Esteban Gutierrez – 1’21.338
+2.208 Kevin Magnussen – 1’21.345
+2.464 Romain Grosjean – 1’21.601
+2.621 Pascal Wehrlein – 1’21.758
+2.784 Esteban Ocon – 1’21.921
+3.217 Felipe Nasr – 1’22.354
Combined practice times
Pos | Driver | Car | FP1 | FP2 | FP3 | Fri/Sat diff | Total laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull-TAG Heuer | 1’22.877 | 1’20.619 | 1’19.137 | -1.482 | 68 |
2 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’20.914 | 1’19.794 | 1’19.231 | -0.563 | 94 |
3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull-TAG Heuer | 1’21.727 | 1’20.448 | 1’19.370 | -1.078 | 87 |
4 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1’21.673 | 1’20.225 | 1’19.618 | -0.607 | 105 |
5 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1’20.993 | 1’19.790 | 1’19.937 | +0.147 | 86 |
6 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams-Mercedes | 1’21.447 | 1’20.629 | 1’19.811 | -0.818 | 94 |
7 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1’21.072 | 1’20.259 | 1’19.994 | -0.265 | 72 |
8 | Felipe Massa | Williams-Mercedes | 1’21.836 | 1’21.326 | 1’19.997 | -1.329 | 98 |
9 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India-Mercedes | 1’21.409 | 1’20.574 | 1’20.255 | -0.319 | 87 |
10 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1’22.563 | 1’20.974 | 1’20.325 | -0.649 | 100 |
11 | Sergio Perez | Force India-Mercedes | 1’21.200 | 1’21.579 | 1’20.472 | -0.728 | 84 |
12 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1’22.215 | 1’21.193 | 1’20.586 | -0.607 | 88 |
13 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren-Honda | 1’23.089 | 1’21.003 | 1’20.600 | -0.403 | 68 |
14 | Jolyon Palmer | Renault | 1’24.097 | 1’21.785 | 1’20.959 | -0.826 | 97 |
15 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Honda | 1’23.342 | 1’21.198 | 1’21.152 | -0.046 | 82 |
16 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’22.723 | 1’21.997 | 1’21.245 | -0.752 | 80 |
17 | Esteban Gutierrez | Haas-Ferrari | 1’22.910 | 1’22.408 | 1’21.338 | -1.07 | 72 |
18 | Kevin Magnussen | Renault | 1’23.556 | 1’21.442 | 1’21.345 | -0.097 | 88 |
19 | Romain Grosjean | Haas-Ferrari | 1’22.500 | 1’22.105 | 1’21.601 | -0.504 | 50 |
20 | Pascal Wehrlein | Manor-Mercedes | 1’24.350 | 1’21.980 | 1’21.758 | -0.222 | 93 |
21 | Esteban Ocon | Manor-Mercedes | 1’24.083 | 1’22.298 | 1’21.921 | -0.377 | 96 |
22 | Felipe Nasr | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’23.089 | 1’22.037 | 1’22.354 | +0.317 | 73 |
Don’t forget to make your predictions
Enter your predictions for this weekend’s race before qualifying begins:
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hahostolze (@hahostolze)
29th October 2016, 17:06
Sky commentators couldn’t stop talking about traffic. Both the fastest times today were Verstappen’s. He must be incredibly lucky. ;-)
altitude2k
29th October 2016, 17:38
The obsession in these comments with the quality of the Sky commentary seems to outweigh the Hamilton-obsession the posters accuse them of.
It’s deliciously ironic.
hahostolze (@hahostolze)
29th October 2016, 22:25
Not sure Hamilton figured anywhere in my comment?
Mashiat (@mashiat)
29th October 2016, 17:09
Verstappen tops final practice? Well, that’s decided for me who deserves the DOTD award come Sunday…
bogaaaa (@nosehair)
30th October 2016, 2:39
“wacko the dildo” fastest in quali 3….Max still might drive in the pits to see his crew sitting on chairs again..but will win DOTD on this site
Wallbreaker (@wallbreaker)
29th October 2016, 17:09
Think this makes any predictions incredibly difficult. Wonder if track evolution played a part in this as well. On Softs it looked like RBR had the upper hand on Ferrari again. Kimi didn’t look quick at all. I’d say the only thing you can predict without too much risk is Hamilton on pole…
Sravan Krishnan (@sravan-pe)
29th October 2016, 17:11
The altitude is certainly mixing things up! Bring it on!
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
29th October 2016, 17:17
Williams are looking a bit stronger compared to Force India than I expected.
WheelToWheel (@lolzerbob)
29th October 2016, 17:18
Vettel didn’t get a SS tyre lap, so expect him at the front. Kimi really struggling unfortunately
Stefanauss (@stefanauss)
29th October 2016, 17:19
Ultimate laptimes were:
* VES 79.004
* HAM 79.181
* RIC 79.184
* ROS 79.500
VES mighty in the first 2 Ts. But I have no idea the traffic they encountered, on which lap in their stints, in which part of the track, and the relevance of their errors.
Phylyp (@phylyp)
29th October 2016, 17:40
@stefanauss – by “ultimate” do you mean the combination of their best sector times?
It does appear that Q3 times can dip into the high 78 seconds.
Stefanauss (@stefanauss)
29th October 2016, 17:44
Yes, adding up each driver best sector times.
I don’t know. It appears there’s the chance we will go into quali with temperatures in a range not really comparable to the runnings in FP1/2/3. Tyres could work entirely different.
Darashc
29th October 2016, 17:19
Is it just me or has Rosberg been looking out of sorts for this whole weekend so far?
If he is, then he has picked the worst time for it to happen
lockup (@)
29th October 2016, 17:42
Tempting to hope he’s tightening up a bit. It’d be pretty normal for the pressure to be getting to him.
LosD (@losd)
29th October 2016, 17:21
Didn’t see final practice, but 2nd seemed like Hamilton was held up in both his fastest runs, was it the same here, or was Verstappen truly faster? Then qualifying might be a nail biter (unless Mercedes again has an extra gear for when it matters)
Mark
29th October 2016, 17:30
Max got lucky and got in a relatively unhindered lap.
Vettel dodnt even get a SS run….i suspect it will be Mercedes Ferrari red bull come qualifying.
Matn
29th October 2016, 18:54
Max got lucky two times…? He did two fastest laps in a row… in traffic, after that he set his best first sector time when he got stopped by traffic. So generally speaking Verstappen could have been faster.
Vettel didn’t have a clean run, but his sector times could not match Verstappen’s same goes for Hamilton.
But surely we’ll expect the Merc’s on first row later on… that is if Rosberg can put it togehter he didn’t look that fast in FP3.
Aapje (@aapje)
29th October 2016, 18:21
Mercedes tune up their engine for Q3, so they will be ahead, surely.