Max Verstappen completed a clean sweep of practice sessions ahead of qualifying for Formula 1’s Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka.
The reigning world champion set a time of 1:30.267s during the final one hour of running, held in hot and sunny conditions, to top the session, having been quickest in both of Friday’s outings.
McLaren had another encouraging session as Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri finished second and third respectively.
Norris was 0.240s behind pacesetter Verstappen while Piastri – making his Suzuka debut – was just 0.048s behind his McLaren team-mate.
Sergio Perez improved on his Friday position to place fourth but trailed Verstappen by a sizeable seven-tenths of a second.
Ferrari duo Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz were fifth and sixth respectively, ahead of the Mercedes duo Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, as neither teams displayed pace to suggest they can challenge for the very front of the grid in qualifying.
Russell completed the fewest laps of any driver after his W14 suffered damage to the right rear wheel shield.
Aston Martin’s regression to the rear of this group continued, with Fernando Alonso mustering only ninth, as Lance Stroll finished near the back, in front of just the struggling Pierre Gasly.
Alfa Romeo crept into the top 10 courtesy of Zhou Guanyu, with Valtteri Bottas one position further back, while Haas’ Kevin Magnussen and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon followed.
Home hero Yuki Tsunoda – who vented his frustration after being baulked by Magnussen – finished in 14th place a few hours after his place on the 2024 grid was confirmed.
Logan Sargeant classified ahead of Williams team-mate Alex Albon, in 16th and 18th respectively, bookending Liam Lawson in a session in which there was little in the way of incident.
Qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix is scheduled for 15:00 local time
Discussion about this post