Nico Rosberg edges Lewis Hamilton in F1 Mexican GP final practice

The German clocked a 1m21.083s, 0.014s ahead of newly-crowned world champion Hamilton with Daniel Ricciardo less than half a tenth adrift in third for Red Bull.

Overnight rain meant the track lost a lot of the rubber that was laid down during Friday practice, creating slippery conditions early in FP3.

Felipe Massa set the early pace with a 1m22.729s on the mediums, with several drivers struggling with tyre warm-up and subsequently suffering for grip.

But the track gradually improved and after 30 minutes, Sebastian Vettel was the first to fit the soft-compound Pirelli tyres to his Ferrari and promptly went fastest on a 1m21.871s.

The German was four tenths up on his next lap after two sectors but he made a mistake and backed out of it before returning to the pits.

Mercedes focused on running the medium tyre for the majority of the session, only switching to the softs with 10 minutes to go.

Rosberg promptly went fastest with a 1m21.205s, while Hamilton lost one of his attempts with a big lock-up at Turn 1.

The German went 0.122s quicker on his second, with Hamilton complaining on the radio that Rosberg was backing up into him only to be told by his engineer that there was plenty of space behind.

Hamilton regrouped and was much closer to Rosberg on his next flier, but a lock-up in the stadium section cost him and he ended the session 0.014s adrift.

Vettel completed another soft tyre run late in the session to finish fourth quickest, with just under a second separating the top 12.

Daniil Kvyat was fifth, having had a spin at Turn 6, ahead of home favourite Sergio Perez, who waved to the fans that had turned out in force for a second day running during his slow down lap at the end of the session.

Valtteri Bottas was the best placed Williams in seventh, ahead of Carlos Sainz Jr with Massa and Nico Hulkenberg completing the top 10.

Kimi Raikkonen had a disappointing session, peeling off the circuit with smoke pouring from the rear of his Ferrari having managed just four laps. He was 17th quickest.

Jenson Button's difficult weekend continued as he reported vibrations from the engine at low revs and spent most of the session in the garage.

The 2009 world champion, who will take a hefty grid penalty for engine changes, was 20th and last, one place behind Manor's Alexander Rossi who also completed limited running after being told to be careful on the brake and pit after eight laps.

FP3 TIMES