Max Verstappen set the fastest time in the final practice session for the Mexican Grand Prix as traffic and tyre conditioning made a big impact on the order.
Verstappen got a relatively clean lap on the super-soft tyres to set a 1:19.137, just 0.094s clear of Hamilton, whose first attempt was ruined by yellow flags for Romain Grosjean's spinning Haas. Daniel Ricciardo was third fastest and 0.233s off his teammate, but his best lap was ruined by a slow moving Kevin Magnussen in the final sector.
Nico Rosberg was fourth fastest and 0.481s off Verstappen's pace, but, again, his best lap was ruined on the entry to the stadium section as Romain Grosjean focused on the settings on his steering wheel rather than the cars around him. Valtteri Bottas set his time earlier in the session and a clear track meant his Williams was just 0.674s off Verstappen's benchmark.
Sebastian Vettel set the second fastest first sector of all, just 0.071s off Verstappen, but traffic on the entry to the stadium section ruined his quick lap as well. Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen also lost time in the middle and final sectors to finish seventh fastest overall and 0.857s off Verstappen. Felipe Massa was eighth fastest after setting his time earlier than the rest on a relatively clear track.
A lot of the traffic issues were caused by drivers trying to bring their super-soft tyres up to temperature slowly. The cold conditions and low-grip tarmac mean graining can occur if drivers push too hard on their out laps, and for some teams the optimum strategy is to do two warm-up laps ahead of a quick lap. The result of the chaotic final 10 minutes of FP3 is that the competitive order remains a mystery ahead of qualifying, with Mercedes qualifying dominance potentially under threat. The mixed order could be good news for Hamilton, however, who needs Mercedes teammate Rosberg to slip up at one of the remaining rounds in order to keep his championship chances alive.
Nico Hulkenberg failed to follow up on his impressive FP2 pace on the soft tyre by only improving by 0.25s on the super-soft. He finished in ninth ahead of Carlos Sainz in tenth and the second Force India of Sergio Perez in 11th. Daniil Kvyat was 12th ahead of the McLaren of Fernando Alonso, Jolyon Palmer's Renault and the second McLaren of Jenson Button.
Marcus Ericsson managed to haul his Sauber up to 16th, over a second quicker than teammate Felipe Nasr in last, and ahead of the Haas of Esteban Gutierrez in 17th. Magnussen was 18th, 0.386s off teammate Palmer, and 0.256s ahead of Romain Grosjean, who struggled with the balance of his Haas throughout the session.
In the battle of the Manors, Pascal Werhlein held a 0.163s advantage over teammate Esteban Ocon, with both drivers over 0.4s quicker than Nasr in last.