Jenson Button has so far had the perfect weekend having topped the times in every session so far. The McLaren driver set a best time of 1:31.255 in final practice.
Teammate Lewis Hamilton was half a second off the pace but managed P2 with his best time.
Sebastian Vettel was a further three tenths back in P3, with Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber making up the top five cars.
The biggest incident of the session came from Bruno Senna as he accelerated down the back-straight but lost the rear on the kerbing and hit the barrier heavily which resulted in a red flag.
Meanwhile, Vitantonio Liuzzi’s sessione ended early with a hydraulic leak.
Japanese GP Free Practice 3 Results:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01. | J. Button | McLaren | 1:31.255 | 13 | |
| 02. | L. Hamilton | McLaren | 1:31.762 | +0.507 | 16 |
| 03. | S. Vettel | Red Bull | 1:32.122 | +0.867 | 18 |
| 04. | F. Alonso | Ferrari | 1:32.279 | +1.024 | 16 |
| 05. | M. Webber | Red Bull | 1:32.401 | +1.146 | 14 |
| 06. | F. Massa | Ferrari | 1:32.429 | +1.174 | 16 |
| 07. | M. Schumacher | Mercedes | 1:32.725 | +1.470 | 19 |
| 08. | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:32.878 | +1.623 | 17 |
| 09. | V. Petrov | Renault | 1:33.058 | +1.803 | 15 |
| 10. | A. Sutil | Force India | 1:33.424 | +2.169 | 14 |
| 11. | S. Buemi | Toro Rosso | 1:33.469 | +2.214 | 18 |
| 12. | J. Alguersuari | Toro Rosso | 1:33.545 | +2.290 | 18 |
| 13. | K. Kobayashi | Sauber | 1:33.818 | +2.563 | 17 |
| 14. | S. Perez | Sauber | 1:33.836 | +2.581 | 21 |
| 15. | P. di Resta | Force India | 1:33.990 | +2.735 | 16 |
| 16. | P. Maldonado | Williams | 1:34.321 | +3.066 | 21 |
| 17. | B. Senna | Renault | 1:35.389 | +4.134 | 5 |
| 18. | R. Barrichello | Williams | 1:35.651 | +4.396 | 18 |
| 19. | J. Trulli | Team Lotus | 1:36.327 | +5.072 | 16 |
| 20. | H. Kovalainen | Team Lotus | 1:36.917 | +5.657 | 14 |
| 21. | J. d’Ambrosio | Virgin | 1:37.938 | +6.683 | 17 |
| 22. | T. Glock | Virgin | 1:38.011 | +6.756 | 16 |
| 23. | D. Ricciardo | HRT | 1:38.355 | +7.100 | 19 |
| 24. | V. Liuzzi | HRT | 1:41.097 | +9.842 | 8 |
