Piastri tops undisturbed final practice ahead of Norris at Mexico GP

Piastri tops undisturbed final practice ahead of Norris at Mexico GP

26th October 2024 0 By Kamron Kent

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri topped the final practice session of the Mexican Grand Prix, at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, ahead of teammate Lando Norris. 

Feature image credit: McLaren Racing

After a disruptive opening day of action which featured some red flags and a Pirelli 2025 tyre test, the teams and drivers had one last hour to dive deep into their set-ups ahead of Qualifying and the race. 

Fortunately, it was a clean session without any red-flag interruptions, with the only dramatic moment coming from Visa Cash App RB’s Liam Lawson who temporarily stopped in the gap between the grandstands, in the stadium section. 

Williams’ Alexander Albon and Mercedes’ George Russell returned to the action after heavy shunts on Friday with the latter’s team breaking curfew to get his car fixed. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen also had a better session as the team returned to an older power unit after the Dutch world champion had engine problems in both FP1 and FP2 sessions – related to an air intake. 

How did FP3 finish?

McLaren locked out the top two positions with Piastri fastest ahead of teammate Norris, separated by only 0.059s, and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz rounded out the top three 0.34s behind. Former title rivals, Verstappen and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton rounded out the top five in fourth and fifth respectively as both drivers trailed the fastest time by five-tenths. 

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was the slower Ferrari down in sixth but his mechanic had a spectacular moment in the pit lane. The mechanic rushed out into the pit lane, falling backwards in the process, before getting back up to release the Monegasque. 

Visa Cash App RB’s Yuki Tsunoda occupied seventh whilst his teammate Liam Lawson completed the top 10, in 10th. Russell and Haas’ Kevin Magnussen completed the VCARB sandwich in eighth and ninth. 

Albon was the fastest driver inside the bottom 10, in 11th, as his teammate Franco Colapinto finished just behind in 13th. Kick Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas fitted in between the two drivers in 12th. 

Ahead of the business sessions, home hero and Red Bull driver, Sergio Perez could only best 14th at the end of the session. However, the Mexican driver looked to be on course to put in a decent lap at the end but locked up heading into the stadium section, and couldn’t improve.

Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll occupied 15th and 17th as Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg separated the two drivers in 16th. The Alpine duo were some of the slowest drivers of the session with an 18th and 20th finish for Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly, respectively, leaving Kick Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu to complete the 20-car field in 19th.

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Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.

CategoryFormula 1 Formula Series News
TagsAutódromo Hermanos Rodríguez F1 Formula 1 Lando Norris Mexican GP Mexican Grand Prix Oscar Piastri

About the author

Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.

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