MEXICO CITY, Oct 30 — George Russell topped the times ahead of Mercedes team-mate and seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton as the "silver arrows” dominated Saturday’s third and final practice ahead of the Mexico Grand Prix.

The two Britons delivered their best practice session performance of an often frustrating and inconsistent season to finish one-two ahead of newly-crowned double world champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull.

Russell clocked a best lap of 1min 18.399sec to outpace Hamilton by 0.144sec and leave Verstappen off the pace by four-tenths of a second.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc recovered from his big accident on Friday to take fourth, while grumbling about his car’s handling, ahead of local hero Sergio Perez in the second Red Bull and Carlos Sainz in the second Ferrari.

Lando Norris was seventh for McLaren ahead of Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas, Yuki Tsunoda of Alpha Tauri and Alex Albon of Williams.

The session followed a morning of continued political intrigue in the paddock as many leading teams reacted negatively to the penalty given to Red Bull for exceeding the US$145 million (RM685 million) cost cap last year.

On a warm and sunlit day under a clear blue sky, Alfa Romeo and Aston Martin led the way out of the pitlane in search of the performance to provide impetus into next season.

Hamilton set an early fastest lap time, soon overhauled by Leclerc who was feeling his way following his big crash on Friday, and then Sainz as Ferrari flexed their muscle.

But Mercedes responded with Russell going top in 1:19.405 to endorse the feeling that their much-improved car was well-suited to the high-downforce configuration demanded by the high-altitude circuit.

Having delayed his entry to the action, Verstappen went top with his first flying lap in 1:19.296. "My first sector was terrible with the kerbs,” he complained, suggesting he had performance to spare.

After a lull, the leading group of drivers returned on softs with 20 minutes remaining and Russell, in 1:18.399, went top by outpacing Hamilton by a tenth and providing a rare sighting this year of the two Mercedes leading the way.

Verstappen returned but backed off after missing a braking point at Turn Four. "Same problem again,” he said on team radio before trying another lap and taking third, half a second off the pace.

Local favourite Sergio Perez attempted to join the fray with a crowd-pleasing lap, but he could not improve on sixth after locking-up in the final sector.

He tried again and rose to fourth, before Leclerc outpaced him, but this was a session that saw Mercedes show real potential ahead of qualifying scheduled for later Saturday. — AFP