F1 – MAX VERSTAPPEN TOPS FINAL PRACTICE IN SUZUKA AHEAD OF PÉREZ AND RUSSELL
Kevin Magnussen of Haas caused a minor incident when he skidded through the gravel trap at the hairpin, but the Dane was able to correct course and complete the practice.
Shortly after, Lewis Hamilton established the initial record with a lap time of 1:30.065s while on Soft tires. With Medium tyres, Verstappen moved into P2, two tenths of a second behind the Mercedes driver. The Dutchman was not pleased with the feel of his RB20, though, complaining of understeer and a rattling wing mirror despite recording the fastest final sector.
Pérez, who was also on Mediums, moved up to third place behind Hamilton, 0.388 seconds behind him, and Charles Leclerc of Ferrari took fourth place, over half a second behind Hamilton.
Oscar Piastri of McLaren leapt to third place with a time of 1 minute, 30.360 seconds as the first third of the practice wound down, just before Daniel Ricciardo of RB slid out at Turn 2, raising the yellow flags. After a trip across the grass, the Australian driver was able to gently return to the pit lane for checks, even though he had lost the rear of his vehicle coming out of the long right-hander that opens the lap.
Then, in the other McLaren, Lando Norris passed his teammate by almost two tenths of a second to go up to third.
Longer runs were allowed in the middle third of the session as many drivers attempted to make up for the time lost in the rainy afternoon session on Friday. However, with just over 15 minutes left, Alex Albon of Williams emerged on Soft tires, which prompted the field to switch to the red-walled rubber and start qualifying simulations.
With the fastest time in the last six, Albon shot up to sixth position, and Russell surged to the top of the table with a time of 1:29.918s. His dynasty was short-lived, as Verstappen overtook Russell’s record with a lap time of 1 minute, 29.563 seconds, while following closely behind on the circuit. After that, Pérez took second, while Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin surprised everyone by finishing fifth, just behind the Mercedes drivers.
At the flag, Norris finished sixth for McLaren, and Carlos Sainz led Ferrari in seventh place, ahead of Piastri and Yuki Tsunoda of RB. Leclerc finished in P10 but expressed his annoyance over team radio by bemoaning the loss of a second qualifying lap.
.2024 FIA Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix – Free Practice 3
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:29.563 23 233.413
2 Sergio Pérez Red Bull 1:29.832 0.269 25 232.714
3 George Russell Mercedes 1:29.918 0.355 24 232.491
4 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:30.037 0.474 21 232.184
5 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:30.082 0.519 24 232.068
6 Lando Norris McLaren 1:30.137 0.574 14 231.926
7 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:30.171 0.608 27 231.839
8 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:30.226 0.663 19 231.698
9 Yuki Tsunoda RB 1:30.341 0.778 21 231.403
10 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:30.383 0.820 25 231.295
11 Alexander Albon Williams 1:30.533 0.970 23 230.912
12 Valtteri Bottas Sauber 1:30.546 0.983 26 230.879
13 Daniel Ricciardo RB 1:30.682 1.119 24 230.533
14 Esteban Ocon Alpine 1:31.022 1.459 18 229.671
15 Zhou Guanyu Sauber 1:31.067 1.504 16 229.558
16 Nico Hülkenberg Haas 1:31.139 1.576 21 229.377
17 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:31.141 1.578 19 229.372
18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:31.342 1.779 23 228.867
19 Logan Sargeant Williams 1:31.452 1.889 20 228.592
20 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:31.462 1.899 22 228.567
