Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, the triple Formula One world champion, completed a practice sweep at the Mexico City Grand Prix. He set the fastest time in the third and final session before qualifying. Verstappen, who was the fastest in both Friday sessions, recorded a best time of one minute 17.887 seconds at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
Alex Albon from Williams split the Red Bull drivers, finishing with a flying lap 0.070 seconds slower than Verstappen’s time. Mexican driver Sergio Perez delighted the home crowd by finishing third, 0.139 seconds off his teammate’s pace.
There was a mix of teams in the top seven places, with George Russell from Mercedes claiming fourth, Oscar Piastri from McLaren taking fifth, Valtteri Bottas from Alfa Romeo securing sixth, and Yuki Tsunoda from AlphaTauri finishing seventh.
McLaren’s Lando Norris finished eighth, while seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton from Mercedes only managed to secure the 10th fastest time.
Due to penalties for changes made to his car, including the power unit, Tsunoda will start at the back of the grid.
Despite already clinching both championships, Verstappen and Red Bull are still chasing records in the remaining four races. A victory on Sunday would mark Verstappen’s 51st career win, equalling the record of four-times champion Alain Prost, and also be his record 16th win of the season.
Reporting by Alan Baldwin in London, editing by Clare Fallon.
