Sergio Perez led the way in the final practice session at the
Circuit of the Americas as he pipped
Carlos Sainz and
Max Verstappen to top spot.
The Mexican was fastest in a time of 1:34.701 but was arguably slightly fortunate as his teammate
Max Verstappen and Mercedes driver
Lewis Hamilton both had lap times deleted for exceeding track limits.
Carlos Sainz also benefitted from the deleted times, one tenth down on the Red Bull man, with Max Verstappen a place further back as the Dutchman struggled in the latter stages navigating traffic.
Mercedes looked to be hiding a bit of their true speed in FP3 as
Valtteri Bottas and
Lewis Hamilton finished in fifth and eighth respectively. The Finn won't be able to claim pole after taking a new ICE but Hamilton will be desperate to take top spot in qualifying as the World Championship battle heats up.
Mercedes remain favourites
It was a challenging session for the two title leaders, as neither could really make their mark with conditions with the wind difficult and a number of deleted laps. However, Hamilton is currently predicted to be around two tenths quicker than his rival but anything could happen when it heats up later today.