Max Verstappen remained unbeaten throughout practice as he led the way in FP3 ahead of qualifying at the Japanese Grand Prix.
The reigning World Champion wound up 0.2s quicker than Lando Norris, who edged out his McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri. That pairing split Sergio Perez from Verstappen, with the Mexican 0.7s behind the sister RB19 car.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz ended up line astern in fifth and sixth respectively, around half a second shy of the McLaren drivers.
Lewis Hamilton and George Russell were next for Mercedes, with Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and the Alfa Romeo of Zhou Guanyu completing the top 10.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
|
Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:30.267 | ||||
| 2 |
|
Lando Norris | McLaren | 1:30.555 | 0.240 | |||
| 3 |
|
Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 1:30.960 | 0.288 | |||
| 4 |
|
Sergio Perez | Red Bull | 1:31.004 | 0.737 | |||
| 5 |
|
Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:31.022 | 0.755 | |||
| 6 |
|
Carlos Sainz Jr | Ferrari | 1:31.137 | 0.870 | |||
| 7 |
|
Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:31.159 | 0.892 | |||
| 8 |
|
George Russell | Mercedes | 1:31.505 | 1.238 | |||
| 9 |
|
Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 1:31.549 | 1.282 | |||
| 10 |
|
Guanyu Zhou | Alfa Romeo | 1:31.668 | 1.401 | |||
| 11 |
|
Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo | 1:31.699 | 1.432 | |||
| 12 |
|
Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 1:31.880 | 1.613 | |||
| 13 |
|
Esteban Ocon | Alpine | 1:31.924 | 1.657 | |||
| 14 |
|
Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | 1:31.951 | 1.684 | |||
| 15 |
|
Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | 1:31.979 | 1.712 | |||
| 16 |
|
Logan Sargeant | Williams | 1:32.002 | 1.735 | |||
| 17 |
|
Liam Lawson | AlphaTauri | 1:32.048 | 1.781 | |||
| 18 |
|
Alex Albon | Williams | 1:32.113 | 1.846 | |||
| 19 |
|
Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 1:32.154 | 1.887 | |||
| 20 |
|
Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 1:32.199 | 1.932 |
