Ferrari FP3 report: Charles Leclerc P4, Carlos Sainz P6 | 2022 F1 Mexican GP. Ferrari FP3 report.

A crucial hour at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, as drivers got their eyes back in for performance runs ahead of qualifying for the Mexican Grand Prix. Valtteri Bottas had the first time on the board in FP3, before the Mercedes and Ferrari cars were on track too.

It wasn’t a wholly positive day for Charles Leclerc yesterday as he prematurely finished FP2 by crashing into the barriers and giving his mechanics a long night of work inside the garage. For the Monegasque driver it was therefore important to recover the lost time and work out all the final details ahead of the qualifying session, which takes place later today at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.

Impressive pace from Mercedes early on and George Russell put in a 1:19.405 to lead in the first part of FP3. He bumped down Carlos Sainz from top spot – 0.479s faster than the Ferrari man, while Charles Leclerc ran third. Lewis Hamilton was fifth in the other Mercedes car and had a scruffy lap last time out, running wide in the final sector. Mick Schumacher could do without these kind of moments as he bids to secure his Formula 1 future: the Haas driver had a spin in the middle sector. He was not the first this weekend, and luckily he avoided the wall unlike Charles Leclerc yesterday.

Max Verstappen then did his first flying lap of the day, and immediately went to the top of the timesheet: His 1:19.296 was a tenth faster than George Russell’s effort. On the following attempt, Max Verstappen got in a better first sector, and subsequently extended his advantage at the top of the timesheet to almost 0.3s. Interestingly, after the strong first sector, his middle sector wasn’t as good as on his previous flying lap.

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As the session progressed, Mercedes were looking very strong this afternoon in Mexico City. George Russell put on a new set of soft tyres and went 0.7s clear of Max Verstappen. Lewis Hamilton was right behind his Mercedes team-mate on track, but was 0.144s slower after a poor final sector. All eyes were now on Red Bull and Ferrari to see how they would respond, if they choose to do more laps on fresh soft tyres.

Max Verstappen looked as though he was about to go for another flying lap, but after a lock-up in the early stages of the second sector, he aborts the attempt. He then had another go, but those tyres were not as fresh. The high altitude in Mexico does indeed means that the drag penalty Mercedes have carried elsewhere this season will be less of an issue, so we should expect both drivers to be in the fight this weekend against Red Bull and Scuderia Ferrari.

With just six minutes of the session remaining, we were still yet to see the Maranello team send their cars out on fresh soft tyres. Right on cue, the Ferraris emerge, but that was not a hugely encouraging result, as Charles Leclerc goes fourth and Carlos Sainz sixth. They were 0.7s and 0.9s back from Russell’s leading time respectively.

The chequered flag waved at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, confirming a Mercedes one-two in final practice session for the Mexican Grand Prix. It was George Russell who led team-mate Lewis Hamilton by 0.144s, and the Silver Arrows would appear to be in the hunt for pole in qualifying this evening.

Results from the final practice session at the F1 Mexico City Grand Prix, Round 20 of the 2022 F1 world championship.