Mexican GP practice: Max Verstappen fastest for Red Bull in FP3

In a tricky final 15 minutes at the Mexico City track when finding a clear lap was at a premium, Verstappen managed to find enough space to post a time of 1m19.127s.

As at the end of Friday practice, Lewis Hamilton had to settle for second quickest, finishing 0.094s adrift of the Dutchman after being 0.004s down on Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel in FP2.

Verstappen's team-mate Daniel Ricciardo was a quarter of a second back in third, managing to improve over the closing stages on two occasions.

Ricciardo initially posted a time of 1m19.444s, on a lap that included passing a slow Carlos Sainz Jr and Kevin Magnussen in the stadium section.

Ricciardo then shaved almost a tenth of a second off on his next quick lap before finally concluding with a 1m19.370s.

Championship leader Rosberg had to settle for the fourth quickest time, just under half a second down on Verstappen.

Traffic was a major concern for Rosberg, both during the early part of the session when the soft tyre was key, and again when he bolted on the super-softs.

Williams driver Valtteri Bottas managed to get ahead of Ferrari pair Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen, the latter running wide on entry to the stadium complex on one of his late hot laps.

Felipe Massa was the only other driver to finish within a second of Verstappen in his Williams, with Nico Hulkenberg and Sainz completing the top 10.

As on Friday the temperatures were again on the cool side, with air hitting a maximum of 14C and track only 29C during the opening half hour, with the latter rising to 32C during the final 15 minutes.

Prior to the late qualifying simulations, Hamilton led the way on the soft tyre with a lap of 1m19.721s, with Ricciardo, Verstappen and Vettel all between the Mercedes driver and Rosberg.

FP3 TIMES