FP3 at the 2026 F1 Mexico City GP at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez has been completed, view the full report here.
Following the end of FP2, there was a lot going on. Max Verstappen and Liam Lawson got hit with one-place grid penalties for their collision in the final sector during the second session. Then three hours before FP3, Haas confirmed that Esteban Ocon was removed from his seat, meaning Ryō Hirakawa got an unexpected F1 debut. The Japanese driver had already done FP1 yesterday.
On track, Charles Leclerc was fastest in both FP1 and FP2. In the opening session, he led Kimi Antonelli and Fred Vesti. Come the later afternoon one, it was Lando Norris and George Russell behind him. Lewis Hamilton would have been right in there but he lost power at the end of his qualifying simulation, with Ferrari getting him to stop between Turns 3 and 4. Red Bull looked a step behind Ferrari and Mercedes through the day.
A very mixed start for Audi
Looking to make up for lost time from yesterday, Gabriel Bortoleto had to abort a push lap very early on. Coming out of Turn 6, smoke appeared from the back of his car, suggesting an engine issue. He returned to the garage.
It was a quiet start as only four cars did times in the first 10 minutes. Nico Hülkenberg (softs) logged a 1:19.874 to be fastest, 0.029s ahead of Pierre Gasly (mediums).
On his first attempt, Kimi Antonelli clocked a 1:18.754 to go P1 by 0.550s from car #10. He was using the medium tyres.
Fernando Alonso had downshift struggles and spun at Turn 1 as he just came out of the pits. Nonetheless, he could continue and eventually got good times in.
Leclerc (Turn 10), Hamilton (Turn 12) and Norris (Turn 7) either lost times or abandoned laps as they got wide or went off in tricky conditions because of the lack of grip.
Once more, Ferrari looked very fast when they got times in. Charles Leclerc logged a 1:18.185, going less than a tenth quicker than Lewis Hamilton. However, the seven-time World Champion responded, going 0.023s quicker.
Halfway through Hamilton led Leclerc, Antonelli, Piastri, Russell, Verstappen, Norris, Hadjar, Lawson and Gasly.
Pérez out of FP3 ahead of 2026 F1 Mexico City GP Qualifying
Cadillac confirmed that they would be changing Sergio Pérez’s Power Unit, meaning he got no running in for final practice.
After everyone used their first set of tyres and completed of laps, Charles Leclerc’s 1:18.152 was 0.010s quicker than Lewis Hamilton’s time. Antonelli, Hadjar, Norris, Piastri, Russell and Verstappen completed the big eight. 0.652s covered all of them. Lawson and Colapinto rounded out the top 10.
Impressing was Ryō Hirakawa as the Japanese driver was in P14, only 1.386s off the pace. Meanwhile, teammate Ollie Bearman had lock-ups in Turns 4 and 1 as he struggled under braking.
Soft tyres appear
George Russell jumped to the top with a 1:18.107, only 0.045s ahead of Charles Leclerc, however. Lando Norris immediately beat it, clocking a 1:17.873 to go 0.234s faster.
Championship leader Kimi Antonelli responded to that and pumped in a 1:17.601 to go 0.272s clear of the pack.
Ferrari struggled to get times in on the soft as their drivers aborted multiple laps. Eventually, Leclerc got one in, going P2 thanks to a purple middle sector.
At the end, though, the 2025 World Champion appeared. Lando Norris pumped in a 1:17.600 to be fastest by 0.001s. Charles Leclerc completed the top 3, 0.117s away from the Brit.
Piastri, Verstappen, Hamilton, Russell and Hadjar completed the order of the top four teams. 0.509s was the gap between all of them.
Racing Bulls had a hugely impressive session as Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad were 0.4s clear of Nico Hülkenberg in P11. In fact, the Kiwi was just 0.004s slower than Hadjar.
