Max Verstappen demonstrated his status as the favorite for pole position in the Japanese Grand Prix with a dominant display during FP3. He topped the time sheet, with his teammate Sergio Perez close behind in second place, reaffirming Red Bull’s dominance.
Verstappen initially trailed Lewis Hamilton, who was on softer Pirelli tires. However, once Verstappen switched to the soft tires, he quickly overtook Hamilton and set an impressive lap time of 1m29.563s. Perez also impressed, securing second place just moments later.
Despite their strong performance, both Red Bull drivers faced some issues during the session, including suspension problems and rearview mirror issues.
Mercedes continued to show promise, with George Russell securing the third best time, closely followed by Hamilton in fourth. Russell’s performance improved significantly during the qualifying simulations, outperforming his teammate.
Mercedes focused on optimizing tire preparation and balancing temperatures on the front and rear axles, indicating genuine progress. However, there is concern that their performance may decrease during qualifying.
Fernando Alonso claimed fifth place after his Aston Martin team worked overnight to upgrade his car. McLaren’s Lando Norris secured sixth place, overcoming a mistake on his first fast lap. His teammate, Oscar Piastri, followed closely behind.
Ferrari fell short of expectations, with Carlos Sainz in seventh place and Charles Leclerc in tenth. Ferrari completed their qualifying simulations later than their rivals, leading to complaints from Leclerc about the timing.
Yuki Tsunoda, from Red Bull, was the standout among the top five teams, finishing in ninth place. He outperformed his teammate Daniel Ricciardo, who spun early in the session. Alex Albon, despite his initial lack of confidence in the car, secured eleventh place. Logan Sargeant, with a modified aerodynamic package due to an earlier accident, finished nineteenth.
Valtteri Bottas, from Sauber, secured twelfth place, while Esteban Ocon was the highest-placed Alpine driver in fourteenth. Haas had a disappointing session, with Nico Hulkenberg finishing sixteenth and Kevin Magnussen having an early off-track excursion, finishing last.
