The current world champion Lando Norris has secured the top spot in the third and final practice session at Formula 1’s Mexico Grand Prix, surpassing championship frontrunner Kimi Antonelli in a closely contested session at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
Norris managed to go just 0.001 seconds faster than Antonelli’s earlier benchmark as all four leading teams appeared to be competitive on the challenging high-altitude track, while several midfield competitors faced power unit issues.
The initial phase of the session was relatively quiet, with Ryo Hirakawa gaining significant time in the Haas car. Having participated in FP1, the Toyota-backed driver returned to the Haas as a stand-in for Esteban Ocon for the remainder of the Mexican weekend.
Ocon was placed on the sidelines by the team for reasons that are not entirely clear, following a heated discussion with his race engineer during FP2.
While 32-year-old rookie Hirakawa was gaining confidence on the challenging and slippery high-altitude Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, Antonelli and Charles Leclerc exchanged competitive laps during the early moments of the session, both on medium tyres.
After losing important track time in FP2 due to engine issues, Lewis Hamilton made his mark just before the halfway point with a time of 1m18.268s, picking up from where Ferrari had left as the team was content with their initial setup direction on Friday.
Leclerc shaved another tenth off his teammate’s lap time, before Hamilton took the lead with a 1m18.162s lap, leading the medium-tyre runs that characterized the first half of the practice, followed closely by Leclerc and Antonelli while both Red Bull and McLaren seemed to be a clear step behind.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes
Photo by: James Sutton / LAT Images via Getty Images
By switching to soft tyres, reigning world champion Norris briefly took the top position with a 1m17.873s ahead of teammate Oscar Piastri and George Russell, who expressed concerns about the lack of grip in the challenging Turn 12 right-hander leading into the Foro Sol stadium.
As Leclerc lost control in the Esses and had to back off, Antonelli moved to the top of the timesheets with a 1m17.601s lap, but not before expressing his displeasure about being impeded by Max Verstappen at Turn 1.
Antonelli then went purple in the first sector on his subsequent lap but ultimately did not improve. This allowed Norris to just edge him out by 0.001 seconds as they both headed into qualifying with the fastest time of the weekend.
Leclerc achieved a late improvement with a rapid first sector, yet remained in third place, 0.117 seconds behind, closely trailed by Piastri. Verstappen finished in fifth, 0.351 seconds off the pace as he struggled with brake issues, setting the stage for another competitive qualifying session between the four leading teams of 2026.
An untidy third sector put Hamilton more than four tenths behind in sixth, followed by Russell and Hadjar, who described his Red Bull as “the worst car I’ve driven this weekend, it’s terrible.”
Racing Bulls appeared well positioned to secure dominance in the battle for the best of the rest, with Liam Lawson besting his rookie teammate Arvid Lindblad to secure ninth place as they rounded out the top ten.
Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls
Photo by: Manuel Eletto / Getty Images
Hirakawa concluded his session in 19th place, just ahead of Valtteri Bottas from Cadillac. Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto was unable to record a lap time due to a power unit problem during his out-lap, with smoke coming from a malfunctioning engine.
Local favorite Sergio Perez also did not set a lap time, with Cadillac announcing it would need to conduct a “precautionary engine change” prior to qualifying.
F1 Mexico GP – FP3 results
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– The Autosport.com Team
