3rd practice session, Mexico: Norris 1/1000 ahead of Antonelli, Verstappen in P5, Hamilton in P6

Final practice session at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City: the third free practice session was all about fine-tuning the race cars and preparing for the upcoming final practice session.

In pleasant conditions (air temperature 22 degrees, track temperature 43 degrees), Japan’s Ryo Hirakawa was raring to go: Now that Haas has put him in the car in place of Esteban Ocon, one thing is certain – two-time endurance world champion Hirakawa will become the oldest Formula 1 debutant since André Lotterer in Belgium in 2014; the German was 32 years old at the time at Francorchamps, Hirakawa is also 32.

He will become the 23rd Grand Prix driver from Japan and the 783rd driver in the history of the Formula 1 World Championship since the start of 1950. It came as little surprise that Hirakawa headed straight out onto the track as soon as the green light came on at the end of the pit lane.

Incidentally, the demoted Esteban Ocon was not at the circuit today.

Gabriel Bortoleto, on the other hand, pulled straight off the track: his Audi’s engine was smoking. This came after the Brazilian had reported over the radio: “Something’s wrong with the engine.”

Topic of the week

Soon-to-be world champion Kimi Antonelli: The inevitable will then follow in Mexico

The 20-year-old Italian Kimi Antonelli had the chance to secure the 2026 World Championship title at the US Grand Prix. He did everything right: victory in Texas. The title celebrations have nevertheless been postponed. Until Mexico.

Mathias Brunner

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TV Program

Tomorrow

Mexico City: Rennen Re-Live

FIA Formula One World Championship

01.11.2026 - 23:15

The first ten minutes offered little for the fans: just five cars on the track. Nico Hülkenberg set the fastest time, Hirakawa was last.

Bad news for Audi: the German team confirmed that Gabriel Bortoleto’s stop would last at least 20 minutes. The hard-working mechanics set about searching for a leak.

Problems for two-time champion Fernando Alonso too: a stuttering engine, then a spin out of the blue. The Spaniard on the radio: “No power going into Turn 1, and downshifting isn’t working either.”

After a quarter of an hour, there was more action on the track, including world champion Lando Norris and soon-to-be world champion Kimi Antonelli. The 20-year-old Italian took the lead, as expected.

Norris ruined his lap when he went off the track at Turn 11.

At Audi, the underbody was removed; it was soaked in fluid, just like on Friday – so it really was a leak. The unfortunate Bortoleto had to be patient – and then it was all over for him. Audi replaced the power unit.

Where was Ferrari? After 20 minutes, Lewis Hamilton was in P3 behind the two Mercedes driven by Antonelli and Russell, all on medium-compound Pirelli tyres, incidentally. Then Hamilton’s lap was disallowed.

Next came Charles Leclerc, who’d set the fastest time twice on Friday: first a wild ride over a kerb, then a fraction faster than Antonelli, putting Ferrari back in the lead.

Shortly afterwards, Antonelli struck back, 62 thousandths ahead of Charles Leclerc and 146 thousandths ahead of Max Verstappen, followed by Norris, Russell and Piastri, with Hülkenberg in P11.

Lewis Hamilton made a fresh attempt, and this time he did better: a new fastest time on the very track where he had become World Champion in 2017 and 2018. Shortly afterwards, Hamilton was back in second place – the Monegasque Leclerc was 83/1000 faster.

Standings after 30 minutes: Leclerc, Hamilton, Antonelli, Piastri, Russell, Verstappen, Norris, all these drivers on medium tyres.

Leclerc and Hamilton continued to trade fastest laps, with Hamilton now back in the lead (23 thousandths ahead of Charles).

Red Bull Racing driver Isack Hadjar ranted over the radio: “This is the worst car I’ve driven all weekend; it’s terrible. The front left feels as if something’s jammed.” The Parisian was in P8.

Back at the RBR pit, it was noticed that a piece of debris had become lodged in the front suspension; Isack then moved up to P4.

Local hero Sergio Pérez was only on the track for one warm-up lap before Cadillac pulled the Mexican off the track: a problem with the power unit meant an engine change for qualifying, and he was unable to take part in any further free practice sessions.

Max Verstappen had a problem with the power unit, resulting in a longer enforced break.

Aston Martin called Lance Stroll into the pits: “We’ve got a problem with the car, Lance, you need to come in.”

With 20 minutes to go, Max Verstappen (still on medium tyres) was only in P7; the car was visibly unstable.

At Haas, it was noticeable that Oliver Bearman was making a lot of driving errors; a comparison also showed that the experienced Japanese driver Hirakawa was better than the young Englishman in the slow corners.

Then, finally, some action on soft tyres. George Russell completed two warm-up laps to carefully bring the front tyres up to temperature. Then the Englishman on the radio: “We should have tried it after just one lap.” Russell still set the fastest time, 45 thousandths ahead of Leclerc. But George grumbled: “I’ve got zero grip on the rear axle in Turn 12.” There, the drivers were battling a nasty tailwind.

A sign of life from McLaren: Lando Norris now in the lead, a good quarter of a second ahead of Russell. Then Piastri moved up to P2, with two McLarens at the front.

Championship leader Antonelli wasn’t about to let that stand: a new fastest time, 272/1000 ahead of Norris.

Would his rivals have an answer to that? Leclerc abandoned an attempt after a wild run onto the kerb; Verstappen moved up to P3, but was 0.350 sec behind Antonelli.

In the end, Leclerc moved up to P2 behind Antonelli, after which Lewis Hamilton spun violently back towards the start-finish line, leaving him in P6 behind Verstappen.

The Dutchman is not at all happy with his car: “These brakes are just awful.”

In the end, everything changed again: first Lando Norris was a thousandth of a second ahead of Antonelli, then Leclerc set the fastest first sector – but then made a driving error, leaving the Monegasque in P3.