F1 Mexico GP Live Commentary and Updates – FP3 & Qualifying
Saturday's action from the 19th round of the 2023 Formula 1 season
Live AppleTV Race Audio
Max Verstappen and Red Bull may have both world championship crowns tied up already, but there remains plenty to play for in Mexico.
After seeing his points advantage over Lewis Hamilton grow to 39 points through the Mercedes driver's disqualification in the United States, Sergio Perez will be keen to put on a show for his home fans and solidify his second position in the standings.
FP3 starts at 6:30pm BST with qualifying at 10:00pm BST.
Sainz goes kerb crawling through Turn 12 and has to back out of his lap having reached a slow-moving Bottas. That'll be a feature of qualifying later on.
Perez is the first of the Red Bull drivers to appear in this session, coming out on softs, and is quickly followed out by Verstappen on the same compound.
Russell's leading time is fractionally faster than Verstappen's FP2 timesheet topper, which shows the track is ramping up steadily. Still no sign of the pair of Red Bulls in this session.
Damaged tyres aside, Gasly gets away with that spin given how close the walls are coming into the stadium section. Moments later, Tsunoda goes wide at the same spot on the track after locking up.
Hamilton lowers the benchmark with his opening effort in the session of 1m19.214s. His front brakes give out a buff of dust indicating he's likely to be on new anchors for today.
Aston Martin played down its lowly positioning on the timesheet on Friday, Stroll 18th and Alonso 20th, as the team ran into issues with its updated car. But getting out early for an install lap shows work to do.
The temperatures are lower than the sweaty recent races in Qatar and the United States, but mostly because the track is 2,285m above sea level. That thinner, cooler air means things like DRS prowess are reduced.
It is beautiful conditions in Mexico City after FP2 was dampened by showers. Bright and sunny weather, with the air temperature just above 20C and the track temperature at a fraction over 40C.
The drivers are on their way to the garages ready for FP3. Usually the start of this session is a timid affair but let's see what it delivers this time around.
The home fans will be hoping Perez can be that driver to take it to Verstappen this weekend. The Mexican driver finished FP1 third and FP2 fifth, so has time to find, but is in with a shot.
But that's right, an entire hour of practice before qualifying is coming up. Verstappen dominated Friday's running, so can anyone take up the task of challenging him today?
