Lando Norris takes fastest lap of Mexico City GP final practice

McLaren’s Lando Norris topped the timing boards in the final hour of practice at the Mexico City Grand Prix ahead of Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli by 0.001 seconds. 

Feature image credit: By Courtesy of Pirelli

Norris set the fastest lap time on the board with a time of 1m 17.600s, pipping this weekend’s potential world champion, Antonelli by 0.001 seconds with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc a tenth behind the outgoing world champion. 

Of the 22 drivers, only two failed to set a lap time on the board with Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto and Cadillac’s Sergio Perez having their final hour of practice curtailed. Perez only managed to complete a single lap before he retired for a precautionary power unit change, whilst Bortoleto had trouble out on track, only managing two laps. 

Additionally, before the start of FP3, Haas confirmed that Esteban Ocon would be forced to miss out on the rest of the weekend, replaced by Ryo Hirakawa. 

Esteban Ocon replaced at Haas for remainder of Mexico City Grand Prix

When the pit exit light turned green, Hirakawa – in his first-ever FP3 session – was one of the first drivers to head out onto the track. But the Japanese driver quickly returned to the pit lane to conduct a formation-like practice start ahead of his debut F1 race. 

The Japanese driver was joined by the likes of Alpine’s Franco Colapinto and both Audi’s, with Gabriel Bortoleto being forced to box once more with more power-unit related problems. 

It marked the end of the Brazilian’s practice session as Bortoleto could only manage to put in two laps before retiring from the session, without a lap time set. 

By the 20-minute mark, the majority of the field had pulled out onto the track with Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli leading the timing boards with a 1m 18.754s lap, 0.228s and 0.550s ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly.

By the end of the session, Norris took the fastest lap of the session with a 1m 17.600s, pipping Antonelli to the top of the timing boards ahead of Antonelli, and a tenth ahead of Leclerc, who finished second and third respectively. 

In his stand-in session, the first of three; including qualifying and the grand prix, Hirakawa finished the session down in 19th, 1.904 seconds adrift of Norris’ best time. 

Isack Hadjar given formal warning for misconduct at Mexico City Grand Prix

FP3 Classification

1. Lando Norris, McLaren – 1m 17.600s
2. Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes +0.001s
3. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari +0.117s
4. Oscar Piastri, McLaren +0.195s
5. Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing +0.351s
6. Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari +0.469s
7. George Russell, Mercedes +0.507s
8. Isack Hadjar, Red Bull +0.509s
9. Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls +0.513s
10. Arvid Lindblad, Racing Bulls +0.537s
11. Nico Hulkenberg, Audi +0.960s
12. Franco Colapinto, Alpine +1.052s
13. Pierre Gasly, Alpine +1.074s
14. Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin +1.250s
15. Oliver Bearman, Haas +1.327s
16. Carlos Sainz, Williams +1.614s
17. Lance Stroll, Aston Martin +1.1776s
18. Ryo Hirakawa, Haas +1.904s
19. Valtteri Bottas, Cadillac +2.742s
20. Gabriel Bortoleto, Audi – No Time Set
21. Sergio Perez, Cadillac – No Time Set

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Kamron Kent

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.

Kamron Kent

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.