It could be a very tight qualifying on Saturday night in Mexico City as several teams were in the running behind Max Verstappen during final practice; watch qualifying live on Sky Sports F1 at 10pm, with build up from 9pm
Saturday 28 October 2023 21:05, UK
Max Verstappen led Alex Albon in an unusual final practice at the Mexico City Grand Prix with plenty of unknowns about the pecking order going into qualifying
Verstappen was just 0.070s ahead of Albon with five different teams in the top six in a continuation from Friday's running as the field seems to be tightly bunched.
Sergio Perez was third from George Russell, who looked very quick straight out of the blocks as he initially set the fastest time of the weekend, in fourth.
Mercedes were disappointing on Friday but Russell clearly gelled with the car more at 0.361s behind Verstappen. Lewis Hamilton was 10th, a further three tenths back and was losing a lot of time at Turns 4 and 5.
Alfa Romeo are competitive in Mexico City with Valtteri Bottas in sixth, behind Oscar Piastri, and only half a second away from the leading pace. Bottas is somewhat of a specialist around the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, having taken pole position in 2021, and fares well on smooth surfaces.
The unique nature of the track, coupled with the altitude, has thrown up some surprises in practice and Williams' slippery car in a straight line and strong mechanical grip has put them in the running.
"I think Alex Albon has a very good chance in qualifying," said Sky Sports F1's Bernie Collins.
"Williams have said they don't really understand where the pace comes from. They run a little bit less fuel sometimes in these sessions but it's marginal here. I think they have got to be very confident of being squarely in that Q3 session."
Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz were 13th and 15th respectively but did not get a proper soft tyre run under their belts due to traffic towards the end of the session.
Leclerc came across a slow Kevin Magnussen in the fast middle sector and was forced to back out, while Sainz spun to avoid Lance Stroll's Aston Martin - the latter incident was noted but not investigated.
AlphaTauri had a strong showing with Yuki Tsunoda in seventh and Daniel Ricciardo ninth, underlining that it will be a big fight to get into Q3 later on Saturday.
Saturday
9pm: Mexico City GP Qualifying build-up (also on Sky Sports Main Event)
10pm: Mexico City GP Qualifying (also on Sky Sports Main Event)
Sunday
6.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday Mexico City GP build-up (also on Sky Sports Main Event)
8pm: The MEXICO CITY GRAND PRIX (also on Sky Sports Main Event)
10pm: Chequered Flag: Mexico City GP
F1 is in Mexico for the middle leg of the Americas triple header. Watch the whole Mexico City Grand Prix weekend live on Sky Sports F1, with Sunday's race at 8pm. Stream F1 on Sky Sports with NOW
