Reigning champion Max Verstappen set the tempo as soon as once more in the final free practice session at the Japanese Grand Prix as McLaren racers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri emerged as the quickest drivers in the chasing pack.
After topping the opening practice classes on Friday, Max Verstappen continued to impress in the final one-hour practice. The Dutchman used two units of Pirelli’s mushy tyres to set the best time of the weekend with a time of 1m30.267s.
McLaren seemed robust yesterday, they usually managed to edge even nearer to the reining champion in the final practice with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri ending simply over two tenths of a second behind in P2 and P3 respectively.
Sergio Perez completed fourth, however contemplating his automobile’s velocity round the Suzuka International Circuit, he seems to battle for tempo over a single flying lap.
Ferrari drivers had been the first ones to hit the monitor as we speak, utilizing two units of recent red-banded softs in the 60-minute session. After affected by steadiness points in Monza and Singapore, Charles Leclerc seems to emerge as the quicker Ferrari driver as he beat his team-mate Carlos Sainz as soon as once more with the pair taking fifth and sixth.
The Mercedes pair of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell adopted the Ferrari drivers – with each drivers wanting extra comfy as we speak after what Hamilton described as a “tough” Friday.
Fernando Alonso was ninth quickest along with his Aston Martin persevering with to lack one-lap tempo. Zhou Guanyu accomplished the prime 10 for Alfa Romeo, lower than a tenth forward of Valtteri Bottas.
After AlphaTauri confirmed him as one of their racing drivers as soon as once more in 2024, Yuki Tsunoda put his automobile in P14 on dwelling soil, three locations greater up than his new team-mate Liam Lawson. However, the pair was separated by lower than a tenth of a second with the struggle in the Q2 and Q3 qualifying classes set to prove extraordinarily thrilling and tight.
Lance Stroll was nineteenth for Aston Martin, whereas Pierre Gasly – recovering from his session ending crash in FP2 – introduced up the rear of the discipline for Alpine in twentieth.
Nice of @LewisHamilton to sluggish issues down and provides us a glimpse of his shiny new lid in FP3 ✨#JapaneseGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/6i8CNvsAUT
— Formula 1 (@F1) September 23, 2023
Results
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Car | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing Honda Rbpt | 1:30.267 | 12 | |
| 2 | 4 | Lando Norris | Mclaren Mercedes | 1:30.507 | +0.240s | 16 |
| 3 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | Mclaren Mercedes | 1:30.555 | +0.288s | 15 |
| 4 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull Racing Honda Rbpt | 1:31.004 | +0.737s | 12 |
| 5 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:31.022 | +0.755s | 20 |
| 6 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 1:31.137 | +0.870s | 20 |
| 7 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:31.159 | +0.892s | 13 |
| 8 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1:31.505 | +1.238s | 9 |
| 9 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes | 1:31.549 | +1.282s | 16 |
| 10 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | Alfa Romeo Ferrari | 1:31.668 | +1.401s | 15 |
| 11 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo Ferrari | 1:31.699 | +1.432s | 15 |
| 12 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas Ferrari | 1:31.880 | +1.613s | 16 |
| 13 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine Renault | 1:31.924 | +1.657s | 13 |
| 14 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | Alphatauri Honda Rbpt | 1:31.951 | +1.684s | 18 |
| 15 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas Ferrari | 1:31.979 | +1.712s | 13 |
| 16 | 2 | Logan Sargeant | Williams Mercedes | 1:32.002 | +1.735s | 13 |
| 17 | 40 | Liam Lawson | Alphatauri Honda Rbpt | 1:32.048 | +1.781s | 18 |
| 18 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams Mercedes | 1:32.113 | +1.846s | 12 |
| 19 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes | 1:32.154 | +1.887s | 19 |
| 20 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine Renault | 1:32.199 | +1.932s | 15 |
