Norris Beats Antonelli by 0.001s in Mexico GP Final Practice as Title Looms

A thousandth of a second separated Lando Norris from Kimi Antonelli at the top of the timesheets in Mexico GP final practice, and it left the weekend’s pole-position fight wide open. The reigning world champion edged the man poised to succeed him, with the result landing just hours before qualifying at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

A margin too small to read anything into

Antonelli had set the benchmark with a 1m17.601s, shortly after voicing his irritation over Max Verstappen getting in his way at Turn 1. He looked set to improve, going purple in the first sector of his next push, but never completed the lap. That gave Norris the opening, and the McLaren driver took it by the narrowest possible margin to post the fastest time of the weekend so far.

Charles Leclerc was 0.117s back in third after a late improvement, with Norris’s team-mate Oscar Piastri fourth. Verstappen, struggling with his brakes, was fifth and 0.351s off the pace. Sky Sports described a “genuine three-team fight” for pole, while Autosport pointed to the closeness of the four leading teams.

Ferrari’s potential versus its practice pace

Leclerc had led both Friday sessions, so third place felt like a step back for Ferrari. Lewis Hamilton had lost track time in FP2 with engine trouble but briefly topped the medium-tyre runs on Saturday morning with a 1m18.162s. An untidy final sector on his soft-tyre lap left him sixth, more than four tenths adrift. Mercedes’ George Russell was seventh, having complained of a lack of grip at Turn 12, the right-hander leading into the Foro Sol stadium.

Sky Sports’ analysts argued Ferrari still hold more potential than they showed. Leclerc was visibly sliding the car on most of his flying laps, and Jamie Chadwick said the team struggled to deliver on the first soft-tyre laps, “when it counts”. There is a recent precedent too: Ferrari topped every practice session in Austin last week, then faded in qualifying as Antonelli took pole.

Title within reach for Antonelli

The stakes are high for the 20-year-old Mercedes driver. He needs only a top-nine finish on Sunday to become Formula 1’s youngest world champion, and has reportedly promised to win the title in style. Norris’s narrow victory in Mexico GP final practice means he heads into qualifying with a point to prove as the man being succeeded.

Penalties, engine trouble and a Haas shake-up

Verstappen cannot take pole whatever he does in qualifying. He and Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson each carry a one-place grid penalty for their FP2 collision, which the stewards called “unacceptable”. Both drivers admitted the clash was “unnecessary and clumsy”. Lawson finished ninth in the session, narrowly ahead of rookie team-mate Arvid Lindblad in tenth. Verstappen said the incident was “not smart” for someone in Lawson’s position, with the New Zealander not yet confirmed at Racing Bulls for next season.

Verstappen’s team-mate Isack Hadjar was eighth, and called his Red Bull “the worst car I’ve driven this weekend”. Away from the track, the FIA gave the 22-year-old a formal warning after footage showed him pushing aside a fan who was trying to take a selfie. The stewards said he was reacting to “an uninvited and rather aggressive act” by someone who was “invading his personal space without consent”.

Reliability problems hit the midfield. Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto set no time after a power unit problem on his out-lap, with smoke seen from the engine. Home favourite Sergio Perez also failed to set a lap, and Cadillac said it would make a “precautionary engine change” before qualifying.

The biggest surprise came from Haas, which replaced Esteban Ocon with Ryo Hirakawa for the rest of the weekend. The team offered no explanation, though Sky Sports reported it confirmed Ocon was not ill. Ocon had a heated radio exchange with his race engineer in FP2, and he is already due to leave Haas at the end of the season. Hirakawa, a Le Mans 24 Hours winner making his race-weekend debut at 32, finished 19th, about six tenths behind team-mate Oliver Bearman. Haas has not said who will drive in Brazil next weekend.

With tyre runs yet to deliver anyone’s best lap, qualifying looks set to be decided by who strings a clean first soft-tyre lap together under pressure.

Explore more on this topic with Vexel Search.

File photo: 2025 Japan GP – McLaren – Lando Norris – FP1.jpg by Liauzh, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.