Mercedes, who have no race wins and only one pole position this year with only three races left, have been talking up their Mexico chances due to the track layout and the high altitude, and delivered on that promise in P3.

Russell was fastest with a 1:18.399, with Hamilton was just over a tenth off his team-mate.

Their closest challenger, world champion Max Verstappen, was almost half a second off the pace - suggesting Mercedes may even be favourites for pole position in qualifying, which is live on Sky Sports F1 at 9pm.

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"I can't get over just how quick Mercedes are," said Sky Sports F1's Paul Di Resta.

Mercedes will, though, certainly be braced for a bigger challenge from their rivals in Saturday night's shootout.

Verstappen's fastest lap, 0.477s off Russell, was set on older soft tyres after he backed out of his first flier, while Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz - 0.7s and 0.9s off the pace for Ferrari - both hit out at the handling of their cars.

Fortunately for Leclerc, he does not have a grid penalty after his big crash in Practice Two.

Mercedes' only other pole this season so far came in surprise circumstances in Hungary.

Lando Norris was best of the rest in final practice in seventh for McLaren, ahead of Alfa Romeo's Valtteri Bottas, the last driver within a second of Russell's benchmark.

Yuki Tsunoda and Alex Albon rounded off the top-10, with both Alpines missing out along with McLaren's Daniel Ricciardo.

Sky Sports F1's build-up for qualifying starts at 8pm.