F1 Japanese GP live commentary and updates - FP3
All of the updates from the Japanese GP's third free practice session
Live Standings
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See you for qualifying
Jake Boxall-Legge has your morning report ready for consumption, you can read through it here.
We will be back with the live blog in two hours from now for qualifying from magnificent Suzuka, one of the highlights of the year. Can't wait!
Any other conclusions from FP3? I would be careful with those. It looks like the Racing Bulls are in more of a representative spot fighting Albon in the Williams for best of the rest.
We still need to see Kimi Antonelli's proper one-lap pace, and the same goes for a low-key Aston Martin.
Tsunoda is three tenths behind Verstappen, which seems charitable at this stage.
Agreed, MMB. Having grass fires in practice is one thing but imagine having to keep stopping the race...!
One silver lining is that a little bit of rain is expected for Sunday, so the problem might solve itself. But still, a worry. We're expecting the FIA and the marshals to get on the case again ahead of qualifying.
Photo by: Erwin Jaeggi
You have to say that, if we weren't at a track that is basically universally adored by F1 fans there would be plenty more criticism coming the way of the organisers for the recurring grass fires. Not a good look and clearly not under control - which will be a worry heading into the competitive side of the weekend.
Ferrair and Red Bull are next up, but Leclerc and Verstappen are four and five tenths down respectively. Surely they have a little bit more in the tank for when it matters in qualifying, though.
Norris heads Piastri and Russell in FP3
And that is the end of that. The session has not been resumed. Lando Norris left it late to take command ahead of his McLaren team-mate Piastri and Mercedes man George Russell.
"I saved it. Something broke in the tyre. Oh my God," the Brazilian gasped. "F*** me, it broke in the 130R, my God!"
Oh my word! Gabriel Bortoleto just had the biggest moment we have seen in a long time. Shortly before the red flag he dipped onto the grass on entry into the flat out 130R, with his Sauber snappping on him.
He somehow manages to catch it and avoid a huge, huge accident.
Annoyingly it's always a different section of the track that catches fire. This time it's the straw-like strands lining the entry to 130R.
Red flag
Red flag number two. Nobody has gone off, so you can probably guess what this stoppage is for. More smouldering grass.
We reported earlier that McLaren had singled out Mercedes - and Russell in particular - as its main rival this weekend. Russell's rapid pace seems to confirm that for now.
The Briton has had a bright start to the year with two consecutive podiums.
Norris goes top
He's abandoned his first two laps, but that effort of 1m27.965s is enough for Lando Norris to demote Piastri to second.
Russell's latest time reduces the deficit to Piastri to under a tenth.
For comparion, both drivers have just gone quicker than Verstappen's 2024 pole time of 1m28.197s.
Piastri fastest
That's a huge lap by Oscar Piastri in comparison, the Australian clocks a 1m27.991s to take top by almost four tenths. Meanwhile, Lando Norris has bailed out of his flyer after going slightly wide.
Verstappen gets a lovely tow from Doohan as he grabs fifth with a 1m28.685s, exactly one tenth faster than Tsunoda but three tenths off Russell.
While Tsunoda goes fifth, Verstappen launches his lap on the soft tyres. We will know a bit more about Red Bull's pace soon.
Earlier, Sainz decided to help the marshals making sure the grass is nice and trimmed. The Spaniard is still adjusting his driving style to that of the Williams after four years at Ferrari.
Hamilton and Leclerc are next. Leclerc gets closest to Russell's time, just 0.029s behind in second. Hamilton is another tenth in arrears in third.
Russell goes top
George Russell's name jumps to the top of the leaderboard thanks to the Briton's 1m28.385s, which is four tenths quicker than the previous McLaren-owned benchmark.
It's another muted session for Red Bull so far. Verstappen is down in 16th after not setting a quick lap on the softest compound. Tsunoda seems to settle in well and is sixth, but his lap was still well off the pace of McLaren and Ferrari.
Hulkenberg blasts narrowly past a trundling Tsunoda who had just come out of the pits. We were just thinking to ourselves: "Jeez, that looked a bit dodgy" before Hulkenberg upgraded it to "really dodgy" on the radio.
We are watching along with George Russell. Blimey, full commitment through the very tricky Spoon double-left, using every inch of the track on exit. He settles for fifth, in between Hamilton and Yuki Tsunoda.
It's shaping up nicely at McLaren, isn't it? Norris was on top in Australia, while Piastri had the measure of his team-mate all weekend in China.
Who are you expecting to be the strongest driver this weekend? Remember Piastri took his first ever podium here in 2023, but he was well beaten by Norris at Suzuka last year.
But McLaren is restoring its lead with Piastri's 1m28.768s just a whisker ahead of Leclerc's 1m28.783s.
And there's a first flurry of laptimes. Charles Leclerc leads to way for Ferrari ahead of team-mate Hamilton and both McLarens.
Green flag
Thanks to our grass expert Mark Mann-Bryans for the update! Meanwhile we are back underway after great work from the marshals.
Yuki Tsunoda on his third outing for Red Bull. But look at that grass. Still as dry as straw. But at least the wind has calmed down today.
That looks like it is on the run between the hairpin and Spoon, by the little optional chicane that isn't used by F1.
Red flag
Oh no, not again. The grass is on fire.
Intrigue at Racing Bulls. "I had a problem in the cockpit, I'll let you know after but it's quite bad," Isack Hadjar reports before comign straight back in."
It won't surprise you that Jack Doohan is one of the first drivers out on track. Remember he also sat out FP1 for reserve driver Ryo Hirakawa, so he is well on the back foot regarding mileage.
FP3 starts
The drivers are getting strapped in, so it's about time to get going. One more hour of finetuning the car and adapting to today's conditions ahead of qualifying.
The conditions are quite similar to yesterday, with track temperatures of around 36 to 40 degrees and an air temperature of 15 degrees. Just like yesterday there's quite a lot of wind with gusts of up to 25km/h, but it appears calmer than it was for FP1 and FP2.
Meanwhile it was a solid start for Yuki Tsunoda at Red Bull, with all eyes in Suzuka on its home hero. He stayed close to Verstappen in FP1, but didn't get to set a quick laptime in FP2 due to all the chaos.
"FP1 was better than expected," he said. "I think there’s lots of work to do, we slightly struggled, something to look through in the data from FP2 more, but overall it’s OK.
“I just have to build up confidence more. It [the RB21] is a bit different to the simulator. To be honest, a little more than I was expecting in terms of car feeling. It [the car’s tendency towards snap oversteer] was just a little more exaggerated in the real car, feeling a bit more tricky."
Verstappen struggled too, mind, saying the front end of the car just didn't bite at all, which is one thing he absolutely detests.
"It seems like a lot of things are not really clicking at the moment," Verstappen commented. It's quite difficult just to put the lap down. You need a lot of confidence and commitment around here. And at the moment, I don't feel like I can use that. So we still have a bit of work to do."
All those stoppages tipped the results sheets off kilter a bit, but they didn't stop the McLarens from leading the way again, with Oscar Piastri half a tenth ahead of Lando Norris.
Norris has singled out Mercedes as McLaren's biggest rival this weekend. I still think we're at the top, but George was very quick this morning, just as quick as us," Norris said after FP2.
"So, I think Mercedes are in a good place. Maybe Red Bull looked a little bit further off, but they have looked further off into qualifying and then they get a bit closer again. I'm sure Mercedes at least - and definitely George from today's showing - will be challenging us a bit tomorrow."
Two of the four red flags were caused by burning grass, something we've also seen in China last year.
The FIA has taken action to avoid a repeat by cutting and dampening some patches of grass, while removing the driest sections.
Lawn mowing in progress at the Suzuka circuit
Photo by: Kan Namekawa
Friday was quite a strange day at Suzuka, with FP2 red flagged no less than four times. That means we haven' seen a fully representatitve picture yet, and a lot of drivers will be desperate for a clean and productive session.
That is especially the case for Alpine's Jack Doohan, he suffered a huge shunt in FP2. The Australian is thankfully okay, and Alpine has rebuilt his car overnight so he can take part in FP3.
An Alpine spokeperson has confirmed his car is good to go and "all parts have been replaced, bar the power unit."
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live blog as we take you through the Saturday of Formula 1's Japanese Grand Prix.
In just under 30 minutes time FP3 gets underway at the wonderful Suzuka, with qualifying following at 6:00am GMT. That's 7:00am BST or 8:00 am CEST.
By: Filip Cleeren
