McLaren’s Lando Norris set the quickest time during the opening practice session for Formula 1’s Japanese Grand Prix.
Norris, who leads the championship by eight points, set a time of 1:28.549s at a chilly and breezy but sunny Suzuka on Friday lunchtime.
Norris’ time put him 0.163s ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell at the conclusion of the one-hour session.
Charles Leclerc was the only other driver to get within half a second of Norris’ benchmark, classifying third overall, with Ferrari team-mate Lewis Hamilton a tenth of a second behind.
World Champion Max Verstappen was fifth in the RB21, running a special one-off livery, while Yuki Tsunoda started brightly in the sister Red Bull.
Tsunoda avoided trouble during the course of the session and finished directly behind Verstappen in sixth spot, his best time just 0.107s behind Verstappen’s fastest effort.
Fernando Alonso was seventh for Aston Martin, ahead of Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar, with Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli ninth.
Antonelli was one of the few drivers to have an off in the session as he slid wide into the gravel at the hairpin, though he was able to continue his run plan.
Carlos Sainz rounded out the top 10, ahead of Williams team-mate Alex Albon.
Alpine handed FP1 to test driver Ryo Hirakawa and on home soil he finished in 12th place, two positions and a tenth of a second in front of Pierre Gasly.
The Alpines were split by returning Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson, while McLaren’s Oscar Piastri had a low-key session and wound up only 15th, ahead of Lance Stroll.
Sauber and Haas filled the lower order as neither teams showed much during the course of the session.
Nico Hulkenberg was 17th, ahead of Oliver Bearman and Esteban Ocon, with Gabriel Bortoleto bringing up the rear.
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