Red Bull’s Max Verstappen led the way during the final practice for Formula 1’s United States Grand Prix on Saturday afternoon, as Charles Leclerc hit trouble.
Verstappen clocked a time of 1:33.305 to finish 0.218s clear of Ferrari rival Sebastian Vettel in warm but breezy conditions at the Circuit of the Americas.
McLaren’s Lando Norris sprung a surprise as he classified third, half a second behind Verstappen, and ahead of both Mercedes drivers.
Valtteri Bottas finished fourth, while Lewis Hamilton has a couple of wide moments en route to fifth overall, on a weekend in which he can clinch a sixth world title.
The Mercedes drivers were followed by Alexander Albon, who took sixth despite drifting wide through Turn 9.
Leclerc, lead qualifier this season with seven poles, crawled to a halt through Turn 19 on his installation lap with a suspected engine problem, and did not re-appear in the session.
Ferrari has yet to determine the precise cause of his stoppage though work is ongoing at the rear of the car ahead of qualifying.
Carlos Sainz Jr. consolidated a strong session for McLaren by taking seventh position, while Kimi Raikkonen took eighth for Alfa Romeo, with Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly just 0.004s behind in ninth.
Daniel Ricciardo captured a top 10 spot at the expense of Renault team-mate Nico Hulkenberg, the duo split by a mere 0.010s, with Lance Stroll just 0.008s in arrears for Racing Point.
Haas took 13th and 15th respectively, Romain Grosjean in front of Kevin Magnussen; Daniil Kvyat split the pair, while Antonio Giovinazzi finished a subdued 16th, six-tenths behind the Dane.
Williams classified 17th and 18th, George Russell ahead of Robert Kubica, while Sergio Perez was the slowest of the timed runners five seconds off the pace.
Perez will start from the pit lane after missing the weighbridge in FP2 and Racing Point, which fitted new engine components to his RP19, opted against a qualifying run.
Qualifying for the United States Grand Prix will begin at 16:00 local time
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