Mercedes one-two ahead of Ricciardo and Vettel; Raikkonen pulls off track with apparent engine failure; McLaren drop down the order
Monday 2 November 2015 11:09, UK
Nico Rosberg was fastest once again in final practice for the Mexican GP on Saturday ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Daniel Ricciardo.
Rosberg, who also topped the times on Friday afternoon, lapped the 2.7-mile Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in a time of 1:21.083 to go 0.067s faster than Hamilton, with Ricciardo's Red Bull about a tenth slower than the world champion.
With the low-grip conditions again proving tricky, Hamilton didn't take to the track for the first 25 minutes of the session but immediately went P1 when he did.
It was an impressive lap considering he was on the medium prime tyre. The field were switching to the soft option by that stage, but Hamilton's time was still 0.031s faster than that managed by Sebastian Vettel on softs.
Both Mercedes cars finally made the switch in the closing 10 minutes, with Rosberg immediately moving 0.6s faster than the rest.
Hamilton ran off the track during his first qualifying practice run, but his second attempt fell short of his team-mate's.
Ricciardo again showed that Red Bull appear in pretty good shape this weekend with a time just over a tenth shy of Rosberg's with Vettel next up.
However, Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen pulled off the track 15 minutes into the session with what looked like an engine failure.
Daniil Kvyat was fifth fastest, with home hero Sergio Perez, Valtteri Bottas, Carlos Sainz, Felipe Massa and Nico Hulkenberg completing the top 10.
P1 pacesetter Max Verstappen featured again during the early stages but eventually had to settle for 11th while Fernando Alonso was 15th in his McLaren.
Both he and team-mate Jenson Button played down their P2 showing - when they were eighth and ninth respectively - because of the unrepresentative track conditions.
Button only completed four laps - and ending up 20th and last, over 8s off the pace - as the team set about another engine change ahead of an irrelevant qualifying session for the Englishman, who has a 50-place engine penalty.
Practice Three times:
1. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1:21.083
2. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1:21.097
3. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull, 1:21.201
4. Sebatian Vettel, Ferrari, 1:21.294
5. Daniil Kvyat, Red Bull, 1:21.530
6. Sergio Perez, Force India, 1:21.603
7. Valtteri Bottas, Williams, 1:21.772
8. Carlos Sainz, Toro Rosso, 1:21.775
9. Felipe Massa, Williams, 1:21.945
10. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India, 1:22.010
11. Max Verstappen, Toro Rosso, 1:22.039
12. Pastor Maldonado, Lotus, 1:22.042
13. Romain Grosjean, Lotus, 1:22.184
14. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, 1:22.184
15. Fernando Alonso, McLaren, 1:23.065
16. Felipe Nasr, Sauber, 1:23.067
17. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1:24.648
18. Will Stevens, Manor, 1:25.654
19. Alexander Rossi, Manor, 1:28.176
20. Jenson Button, McLaren, 1:29.336
