EL3 – The Ferraris stand out in Mexico, Leclerc ahead of Vettel

The Reds are still at the forefront in Mexico City (Mexico). Despite delicate track conditions, the Ferrari showed themselves at the last minute to be the fastest of the peloton Formula 1 during the last free practice session, Saturday October 26. 

Launched on a completely wet but drying track, the hour of training was only really put to good use during the last quarter of an hour, when the trajectory was sufficiently dry to fit soft tires (red sidewalls). 

In his final attempt, the Monegasque Charles Leclerc beat his stablemate Sebastian Vettel. The latter, particularly comfortable during Free Practice 2 the day before, also stayed for long minutes in his stand. An alert on one of the Ferrari's numerous electronic sensors had been detected by the men of the Scuderia. 

The Mercedes are in ambush. Valtteri Bottas ahead Lewis Hamilton by almost a tenth. In fifth place, we find not one Red Bull but the McLaren de Carlos Sainz Jr, which confirms the good form of the British team in this second half of the season. 

Embarrassed in a lap launched by Kimi Räikkönen (Alfa Romeo, 12th), Max Verstappen settles for sixth fastest time, ahead of the Frenchman Pierre Gasly (Toro Rosso). This one is in the top 10 for the third consecutive time in Mexico despite a virus caught during the night from Friday to Saturday. 

On the garage side Renault, the two single-seaters remained quietly in their position. The engineers have in fact discovered a problem with pollution on one of the cooling systems, both for the frame of Daniel Ricciardo than for that of Nico Hulkenberg.

This problem “requires careful cleaning so as not to damage other components”, according to the French team. Thus, neither the Australian nor the German completed a single timed lap. This constitutes a worrying setback before qualifying, especially a few days after the exclusion from the Japanese GP.

As is often the case in 2019, Haas and Williams bring up the rear. Claire Williams' men, however, brought a new front wing to the cars of George Russell and Robert Kubica, with no visible positive effect.

Visit AUTOhebdo.fr at 20 p.m. French time Saturday evening to follow the qualifiers with live text! 

Results 2019 Mexican Grand Prix – Free Practice 3: