Russell heads Hamilton as Mercedes move clear in FP3

George Russell (GBR) Mercedes AMG F1 W13. Mexican Grand Prix, Friday 28th October 2022. Mexico City, Mexico.

George Russell led Lewis Hamilton during final practice for Formula 1’s Mexico City Grand Prix as Mercedes comfortably headed the field.

Mercedes is still chasing its first victory of a difficult 2022 season but displayed strong pace during the final one-hour session on Saturday at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.

Russell’s time of 1:18.399 left him 0.144s clear of team-mate Hamilton.

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World Champion Max Verstappen was third-best, 0.477s behind Russell, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc seven-tenths back in fourth place.

Their team-mates, home hero Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz, wound up fifth and sixth respectively.

McLaren driver Lando Norris was seventh, just 0.016s behind Sainz, while Valtteri Bottas also finished encouraging close to the Ferrari driver in eighth place.

AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda was ninth while Alexander Albon rounded out the top 10 for Williams.

Alpine had a low-key session, with Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso 11^th and 13^th respectively, either side of Alfa Romeo rookie Zhou Guanyu.

A wide moment into the stadium section denied Daniel Ricciardo the chance to clamber higher than 14^th, while Pierre Gasly had a couple of errors en route to 15^th for AlphaTauri.

Aston Martin and Haas had a subdued display, with birthday boy Lance Stroll 16^th, three spots ahead of Sebastian Vettel, who complained of the feel of the AMR22.

Vettel classified ahead of only Kevin Magnussen, who is set to take a grid penalty for a fresh engine, with his Haas team-mate Mick Schumacher 17^th.

Schumacher escaped unharmed earlier in the session following a high-speed spin through the Esses, and was able to resume his program after pitting for fresh tyres.

Saturday’s qualifying session is scheduled for 15:00 local time