Photo: George Russell / Daimler AG
The easiest part of the racing weekend is over in Mexico. Drivers have gone through all three free practice sessions, and qualifying is up next. Sergio Perez is competing in front of his home crowd, so he's going to have a huge boost of confidence and determination for the main event. But that won't stop his main opponents from throwing everything they have at him in the battle for victory.
After Carlos Sainz took P1 in the first practice session on Friday, it was George Russell's turn to take that spot in FP2. He was also the first driver to dip below one minute and 20 seconds per lap, and it's becoming increasingly obvious that he is going to be one of the next big names in Formula 1.
Before moving on to the first crucial part of the race weekend, drivers still had to go through FP3. And it felt certain that many, if not all of them, would be much faster this time around.
It didn't even come as a surprise to see George Russell once again topping the charts with a fast lap of 1:18.399. He is one of just three drivers to get in the one-minute and 18 seconds range, alongside Lewis Hamilton in P2 and Max Verstappen in P3.
This is the first time Russell has come out on top in the third practice session this year, as this spot has mainly been taken by either Red Bull Racing or Ferrari drivers. And the fact that Hamilton was just 0.144 seconds behind probably sent waves of excitement in the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 part of the paddock.
Ferrari managed to fix Leclerc's car after yesterday's shunt, and he managed to finish fourth overall in FP3. It's never an easy thing to go back out after crashing, but he needs to give it all he's got if he plans on finishing second in the championship this year.
Sergio Perez was 0.118 seconds behind him, and we're probably going to see another intense duel between the two tomorrow. Meanwhile, Carlos Sainz, Lando Norris, and Valtteri Bottas were almost equally as fast, but chances are that the Ferrari driver will speed things up a little for qualifying.
Yuki Tsunoda, Alexander Albon, and Esteban Ocon were the last three drivers on the sub-1:19 list, as both Zhou Guanyu and Fernando Alonso were slightly slower than that. As Mick Schumacher's future in F1 is still uncertain, finishing this session in P17 just adds to the pressure.
Also, it feels somewhat strange to see that Nicholas Latifi was faster than Sebastian Vettel and Kevin Magnussen today. But the starting grid for tomorrow will be based on the results in qualifying, so let's wait until then for any race predictions.
Before moving on to the first crucial part of the race weekend, drivers still had to go through FP3. And it felt certain that many, if not all of them, would be much faster this time around.
It didn't even come as a surprise to see George Russell once again topping the charts with a fast lap of 1:18.399. He is one of just three drivers to get in the one-minute and 18 seconds range, alongside Lewis Hamilton in P2 and Max Verstappen in P3.
This is the first time Russell has come out on top in the third practice session this year, as this spot has mainly been taken by either Red Bull Racing or Ferrari drivers. And the fact that Hamilton was just 0.144 seconds behind probably sent waves of excitement in the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 part of the paddock.
Ferrari managed to fix Leclerc's car after yesterday's shunt, and he managed to finish fourth overall in FP3. It's never an easy thing to go back out after crashing, but he needs to give it all he's got if he plans on finishing second in the championship this year.
Sergio Perez was 0.118 seconds behind him, and we're probably going to see another intense duel between the two tomorrow. Meanwhile, Carlos Sainz, Lando Norris, and Valtteri Bottas were almost equally as fast, but chances are that the Ferrari driver will speed things up a little for qualifying.
Yuki Tsunoda, Alexander Albon, and Esteban Ocon were the last three drivers on the sub-1:19 list, as both Zhou Guanyu and Fernando Alonso were slightly slower than that. As Mick Schumacher's future in F1 is still uncertain, finishing this session in P17 just adds to the pressure.
Also, it feels somewhat strange to see that Nicholas Latifi was faster than Sebastian Vettel and Kevin Magnussen today. But the starting grid for tomorrow will be based on the results in qualifying, so let's wait until then for any race predictions.
Google News