Max Verstappen, Red Bull, Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, 2018

Verstappen completes practice sweep with record-breaking lap

2018 Mexican Grand Prix third practice

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Max Verstappen completed his third consecutive practice session in Mexico at the top of the times sheets.

He set a best time of 1’16.284, taking two-tenths of a second off the track record for the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

However for the first time this weekend it wasn’t his team mate Daniel Ricciardo in second place but Lewis Hamilton. The Mercedes driver set his best time on his second flying effort on a set of hyper-soft tyres.

Sebastian Vettel made it three different cars in the top three, just a two-hundredths of a second slower than his championship rival.

However there was concern for Mercedes as Valtteri Bottas came to a stop with a hydraulic problem during the session before he was able to set a representative time.

Kimi Raikkonen therefore took fifth place while both Saubers and both Renaults made it into the top 10, along with Pierre Gasly’s Toro Rosso.

With track conditions on the damp side of dry as the session began, no one ventured out for more than a single installation lap for the first half-hour. Kevin Magnussen did not set a time as the team had to change an intercooler.

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Pos.No.DriverCarBest lapGapLaps
133Max VerstappenRed Bull-TAG Heuer1’16.2849
244Lewis HamiltonMercedes1’16.5380.2549
35Sebastian VettelFerrari1’16.5660.28211
43Daniel RicciardoRed Bull-TAG Heuer1’17.0280.7447
57Kimi RaikkonenFerrari1’17.0450.76116
616Charles LeclercSauber-Ferrari1’17.0590.77513
755Carlos Sainz JnrRenault1’17.3361.05211
810Pierre GaslyToro Rosso-Honda1’17.5251.24116
99Marcus EricssonSauber-Ferrari1’17.5651.28114
1027Nico HulkenbergRenault1’17.6231.33910
1131Esteban OconForce India-Mercedes1’17.7311.44710
1211Sergio PerezForce India-Mercedes1’17.8191.53510
138Romain GrosjeanHaas-Ferrari1’18.1451.86110
142Stoffel VandoorneMcLaren-Renault1’18.4452.16115
1514Fernando AlonsoMcLaren-Renault1’18.5482.26411
1628Brendon HartleyToro Rosso-Honda1’18.6372.35310
1735Sergey SirotkinWilliams-Mercedes1’18.6692.3859
1818Lance StrollWilliams-Mercedes1’18.6982.4148
1977Valtteri BottasMercedes1’18.8392.5555
2020Kevin MagnussenHaas-Ferrari

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Third practice visual gaps

Max Verstappen – 1’16.284

+0.254 Lewis Hamilton – 1’16.538

+0.282 Sebastian Vettel – 1’16.566

+0.744 Daniel Ricciardo – 1’17.028

+0.761 Kimi Raikkonen – 1’17.045

+0.775 Charles Leclerc – 1’17.059

+1.052 Carlos Sainz Jnr – 1’17.336

+1.241 Pierre Gasly – 1’17.525

+1.281 Marcus Ericsson – 1’17.565

+1.339 Nico Hulkenberg – 1’17.623

+1.447 Esteban Ocon – 1’17.731

+1.535 Sergio Perez – 1’17.819

+1.861 Romain Grosjean – 1’18.145

+2.161 Stoffel Vandoorne – 1’18.445

+2.264 Fernando Alonso – 1’18.548

+2.353 Brendon Hartley – 1’18.637

+2.385 Sergey Sirotkin – 1’18.669

+2.414 Lance Stroll – 1’18.698

+2.555 Valtteri Bottas – 1’18.839

Drivers more then ten seconds off the pace omitted.

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Combined practice times

PosDriverCarFP1FP2FP3Fri/Sat diffTotal laps
1Max VerstappenRed Bull-TAG Heuer1’16.6561’16.7201’16.284-0.37249
2Lewis HamiltonMercedes1’18.0751’18.1001’16.538-1.53772
3Sebastian VettelFerrari1’18.7461’17.9541’16.566-1.38870
4Daniel RicciardoRed Bull-TAG Heuer1’17.1391’16.8731’17.028+0.15558
5Kimi RaikkonenFerrari1’18.9361’18.1331’17.045-1.08880
6Charles LeclercSauber-Ferrari1’19.0241’17.059-1.96552
7Carlos Sainz JnrRenault1’17.9261’17.9531’17.336-0.5966
8Pierre GaslyToro Rosso-Honda1’19.0471’17.525-1.52254
9Marcus EricssonSauber-Ferrari1’19.3121’19.3221’17.565-1.74783
10Nico HulkenbergRenault1’18.0281’18.0461’17.623-0.40567
11Esteban OconForce India-Mercedes1’18.4851’17.731-0.75434
12Sergio PerezForce India-Mercedes1’19.1241’18.1671’17.819-0.34863
13Brendon HartleyToro Rosso-Honda1’19.0241’18.0611’18.637+0.57674
14Valtteri BottasMercedes1’18.3221’18.1401’18.839+0.69972
15Romain GrosjeanHaas-Ferrari1’19.2761’18.7331’18.145-0.58875
16Stoffel VandoorneMcLaren-Renault1’19.7161’19.0961’18.445-0.65174
17Fernando AlonsoMcLaren-Renault1’19.5431’18.548-0.99542
18Sergey SirotkinWilliams-Mercedes1’19.8991’19.3351’18.669-0.66676
19Lance StrollWilliams-Mercedes1’20.1421’19.2191’18.698-0.52159
20Nicholas LatifiForce India-Mercedes1’19.07823
21Antonio GiovinazziSauber-Ferrari1’19.13425
22Lando NorrisMcLaren-Renault1’19.64623
23Kevin MagnussenHaas-Ferrari1’19.8531’19.67064

2018 Mexican Grand Prix

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Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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15 comments on “Verstappen completes practice sweep with record-breaking lap”

  1. Most interesting thing to note: Hamilton and Verstappen doing faster laps on the second lap of these tires, the same tires that yesterday barely lasted a lap. It’s close. It’s exciting. For once, I don’t want rain. That probably means we will get rain.
    Also, how good is Leclerc?

    1. Probably due to cooler conditions do hypers last longer.

  2. So Vettel needs DNFs for Verstappen (to stop him winning and easily on present evidence), Hamilton (to stop him picking up 5 points) and maybe Ricciardo (to stop him winning too). The race could be fascinating with a big mix of drivers looking competitive, even it doesn’t all go into tyre conservation mode again like Monaco and Singapore.

    1. Pretty much everyone is expecting a two stop (I don’t know what role tomorrow’s weather plays in that). Which makes for less conservation mode. Here’s hoping!

      1. @hahostolze Let’s hope so! All down to track temperatures tomorrow I guess.

    2. unless there is someone tangling with hamilton at start or catastrophic problems like engine/hydrolic failure… hamilton is unlikely to get less than 5 points or finish below 7th…

      1. @mysticus Below 6th to be even more precise as the top-6 positions are normally occupied by the drivers of the top-3 teams on a regular basis.

    3. Vettel needs 19 points more than Lewis this race. Or, if you like, 23 points better than Lewis on average over 3 races.
      That did not even happen once this year; biggest difference pro Vettel was 15 points, twice.
      I wouldn’t bet on it no matter what the odds are.

  3. Hm, will Verstappen manage that record breaking pole lap for youngest pole sitter? With both Hamilton and Vettel this close but having an extra power boost, I’m rather guessing it will be Hamilton once again though.

    1. So many variables. Will it get warmer or not. Will it rain. Did the Red Bull’s charge issues hinder them here? One lap or two?

    2. It is his only chance. If he doesn’t get pole today, Seb will remain the youngest pole sitter in the history of F1. Brazil and Abu Dhabi won’t be so favourable for Red Bull.

    3. That’s an interesting one @bascb.
      Just looked it up: currently Vettel at 21years + 72 days.
      Thus Verstappen has to do it this year; with next hour the most realistic chance.

      (and then Leclerc can take it away in Brazil)

    4. Hamilton could let him have pole on condition Verstappen wins the race :oP

    5. it wasn’t a perfect lap for Max in FP3 .. on his fastest lap he was yellow in sector 1 and 3 .. if you combine his three fastest sectortimes he was way below 1.16 ..

  4. top 2 is unlikely showing real performance yet until q3

Comments are closed.