Max sixth in Mexico FP3

Published on 25 October 2025 by Stefan Meens

Max Verstappen was sixth fastest in the third and final practice session of the Mexican Grand Prix. Lando Norris was quickest in Mexico City. The McLaren driver was ahead of Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton in second. George Russell (Mercedes) completed the top three. Max’s Oracle Red Bull Racing teammate Yuki Tsunoda was ninth quickest.

It is a quiet start to FP3 with only the Aston Martins of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll venturing onto the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. The Spaniard does so on the hard Pirelli tyres, with his Canadian colleague opting for the medium compound.

Soon after, Max heads out on the mediums and he is the first driver to set a time. Max is not able to enjoy P1 for long as fifteen minutes into the session, various drivers are clocking timed laps on the soft tyres. Sainz is the first to utilise the extra grip to take over first place from Max, quickly followed by Norris going fastest. His McLaren teammate, Oscar Piastri, is not able to convert the additional grip of the softs into a competitive lap time. His first effort is only good enough for P12.

At the halfway point, Max reappears in the RB21 to start a race simulation, sitting in P4 on the timing sheets. The Dutchman is yet to do a flying lap on the softs. He does eventually, with fifteen minutes left. After a green, purple and another green sector, Max climbs up into fourth after having dropped to ninth. In the end, he drops back to sixth, despite improving his time on his second flying lap on the softs. “No grip, at the front or the rear”, is the concise feedback from the cockpit.

At the front, Norris is quickest in the McLaren, ahead of a Ferrari (Hamilton) and a Mercedes (Russell). It means every practice session has had a different team set the fastest lap thus far, which will make for an intriguing qualifying session at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.

Contest GP Mexico: win a by Max Verstappen signed Red Bull Racing cap!

Results third free practice Mexico: