A1 Team Italy set the pace in this morning's third and final official practice session, which was strewn with red flag incidents, at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in the heart of Mexico City, setting the scene for an incredibly close qualifying session this afternoon.

Italy's Edoardo Piscopo (right), who had the benefit of new tyres, shot to the top of the time sheets in the closing minutes of the incident-packed final practice this morning, demoting France's Jonathan Cochet to second. 31-year-old Cochet had held the top spot for much of the session, which overran by 40 minutes due to four red-flag periods involving Lebanon, Portugal and Mexico, plus debris on the track.

Second-placed France was closely followed by current title leader Switzerland's Neel Jani in third while Ireland's Adam Carroll continued his strong form by setting the fourth fastest time overall.

China's Congfu Cheng ended the session in an impressive fifth position, followed by New Zealand's Jonny Reid and USA's Jonathan Summerton in sixth and seventh places respectively. Great Britain's Oliver Jarvis, who was the man to beat around the 4.08km circuit on Friday, finished the session eighth. South Africa's Adrian Zaugg and India's Narain Karthikeyan rounded out the top ten.

It was another incredibly close session at the challenging Mexican circuit, with just over a second covering the top 18 teams. Seven teams had their lap times deleted for cutting the chicane leading into the final Peraltada corner.

To check out our Mexico City Saturday gallery, click here