Charles Leclerc led a one-two for Ferrari in the final practice session for the Mexican Grand Prix.
The two SF90s surged to the top of the times with their final laps in a session which had been disrupted by damp conditions. The first slick tyre runs only began with 15 minutes remaining. Leclerc produced a 1’16.145 to heads the times, just two-hundredths of a second ahead of Sebastian Vettel.They relegated the Mercedes pair to third and fourth, Valtteri Bottas only a tenth of a second away from Leclerc. He complained about being held up by one of the Red Bulls at the end of the session.
With so many drivers attempting to set quick times at the end of the session, traffic problems were inevitable. Max Verstappen looked on course for a rapid lap at the end of the session before the Red Bull driver was forced to back off in the middle of the lap. “Unbelievable” he exclaimed as he headed for the pits.
That aborted lap for Verstappen meant he ended the session behind Carlos Sainz Jnr. Both McLaren drivers looked quick, Sainz briefly heading the times in the final minutes, and Lando Norris endingthe session in ninth place behind Alexander Albon.
Despite suffering the effects of a virus, Pierre Gasly managed 10 laps in his Toro Rosso and set the seventh-fastest time. Sergio Perez completed the top 10 in front of his home crowd.
Neither Renault driver set a time in the final hour of running. The team found a leak on Daniel Ricciardo’s power unit, and in the course of investigating it found the cooling system had become polluted. The same problem was then identified on Nico HUlkenberg’s car, meaning neither driver could run.
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Pos. | No. | Driver | Car | Best lap | Gap | Laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1’16.145 | 14 | |
2 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1’16.172 | 0.027 | 11 |
3 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1’16.259 | 0.114 | 18 |
4 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’16.381 | 0.236 | 16 |
5 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | McLaren-Renault | 1’16.638 | 0.493 | 14 |
6 | 33 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull-Honda | 1’16.903 | 0.758 | 12 |
7 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Toro Rosso-Honda | 1’17.090 | 0.945 | 10 |
8 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Red Bull-Honda | 1’17.094 | 0.949 | 19 |
9 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Renault | 1’17.146 | 1.001 | 11 |
10 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Racing Point-Mercedes | 1’17.207 | 1.062 | 10 |
11 | 26 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso-Honda | 1’17.529 | 1.384 | 14 |
12 | 7 | Kimi Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo-Ferrari | 1’17.740 | 1.595 | 19 |
13 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Racing Point-Mercedes | 1’17.866 | 1.721 | 8 |
14 | 99 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo-Ferrari | 1’17.881 | 1.736 | 8 |
15 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas-Ferrari | 1’18.132 | 1.987 | 12 |
16 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Haas-Ferrari | 1’18.527 | 2.382 | 14 |
17 | 63 | George Russell | Williams-Mercedes | 1’20.965 | 4.820 | 13 |
18 | 88 | Robert Kubica | Williams-Mercedes | 1’22.002 | 5.857 | 13 |
19 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | |||
20 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Renault |
Third practice visual gaps
Charles Leclerc – 1’16.145
+0.027 Sebastian Vettel – 1’16.172
+0.114 Valtteri Bottas – 1’16.259
+0.236 Lewis Hamilton – 1’16.381
+0.493 Carlos Sainz Jnr – 1’16.638
+0.758 Max Verstappen – 1’16.903
+0.945 Pierre Gasly – 1’17.090
+0.949 Alexander Albon – 1’17.094
+1.001 Lando Norris – 1’17.146
+1.062 Sergio Perez – 1’17.207
+1.384 Daniil Kvyat – 1’17.529
+1.595 Kimi Raikkonen – 1’17.740
+1.721 Lance Stroll – 1’17.866
+1.736 Antonio Giovinazzi – 1’17.881
+1.987 Kevin Magnussen – 1’18.132
+2.382 Romain Grosjean – 1’18.527
+4.820 George Russell – 1’20.965
+5.857 Robert Kubica – 1’22.002
Drivers more then ten seconds off the pace omitted.
Pos | Driver | Car | FP1 | FP2 | FP3 | Fri/Sat diff | Total laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1’17.446 | 1’17.072 | 1’16.145 | -0.927 | 71 |
2 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1’18.218 | 1’16.607 | 1’16.172 | -0.435 | 66 |
3 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1’18.005 | 1’17.221 | 1’16.259 | -0.962 | 82 |
4 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’17.327 | 1’17.570 | 1’16.381 | -0.946 | 76 |
5 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | McLaren-Renault | 1’18.401 | 1’18.079 | 1’16.638 | -1.441 | 73 |
6 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull-Honda | 1’17.461 | 1’16.722 | 1’16.903 | +0.181 | 66 |
7 | Pierre Gasly | Toro Rosso-Honda | 1’18.593 | 1’18.003 | 1’17.090 | -0.913 | 72 |
8 | Alexander Albon | Red Bull-Honda | 1’17.949 | 1’21.665 | 1’17.094 | -0.855 | 45 |
9 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Renault | 1’19.299 | 1’18.349 | 1’17.146 | -1.203 | 70 |
10 | Sergio Perez | Racing Point-Mercedes | 1’19.717 | 1’18.366 | 1’17.207 | -1.159 | 67 |
11 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso-Honda | 1’18.835 | 1’17.747 | 1’17.529 | -0.218 | 81 |
12 | Kimi Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo-Ferrari | 1’19.205 | 1’18.681 | 1’17.740 | -0.941 | 78 |
13 | Lance Stroll | Racing Point-Mercedes | 1’19.679 | 1’18.362 | 1’17.866 | -0.496 | 67 |
14 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo-Ferrari | 1’18.959 | 1’18.889 | 1’17.881 | -1.008 | 76 |
15 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas-Ferrari | 1’19.013 | 1’19.306 | 1’18.132 | -0.881 | 71 |
16 | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | 1’19.011 | 1’18.261 | 46 | ||
17 | Daniel Ricciardo | Renault | 1’19.499 | 1’18.380 | 57 | ||
18 | Romain Grosjean | Haas-Ferrari | 1’19.850 | 1’18.766 | 1’18.527 | -0.239 | 73 |
19 | George Russell | Williams-Mercedes | 1’20.548 | 1’19.968 | 1’20.965 | +0.997 | 75 |
20 | Robert Kubica | Williams-Mercedes | 1’20.180 | 1’22.002 | +1.822 | 50 | |
21 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams-Mercedes | 1’21.566 | 30 |
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2019 Mexican Grand Prix
- Why Leclerc’s penalty decision took four hours longer than Kvyat’s
- Ferrari must start converting pole positions into wins – Binotto
- 2019 Mexican Grand Prix Star Performers
- Mercedes: Lost ‘wouvre panel’ cost Hamilton seven seconds
- Horner defends Verstappen’s driving after Hamilton’s “torpedo” criticism
Chaitanya
26th October 2019, 17:13
Any driver because of whom Max had to back off? As usual sports have dropped FP sessions in favour of football.
Bram (@br444m)
26th October 2019, 17:29
Any guess?
Yes, it was Giovinazzi.
Sham (@sham)
26th October 2019, 17:40
Have to say, I was surprised with the Mercs. They trimmed some downforce to give them a chance on the straights, Shirley?
dutchtreat (@dutchtreat)
26th October 2019, 18:09
I can’t get over how slow Williams is… Do they even have money to compete next year?