Practice 3 Report - Verstappen leads Red Bull 1-2

Max Verstappen
© Red Bull

Max Verstappen set a fastest time of 1m29.563s and led his teammate Sergio Perez by 0.269s for a Red Bull 1-2 in free practice three at Suzuka, where clearing skies and warming track temperatures made for more productive running after yesterday’s damp second practice.

The Mercedes of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton were next fastest, followed by Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso, McLaren’s Lando Norris and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz. Norris’ teammate Oscar Piastri was eighth in the order, followed by home crowd favorite Yuki Tsunoda. Sainz teammate Charles Leclerc was next down the order, and shared some frustration after he rejoined the session in time to only make a single lap before seeing his teammate beat the checkered flag in front of him: “Honestly I don’t get it. What are we doing to stay in the garage … we are FP3 we have two laps, two laps, let’s be on it. Come on.”

Alexander Albon was next on the timing board, and was unhappy with the rear end stability in his Williams, sharing his lack of confidence with the team early in the session. Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas was 12th in the order, followed by Team RB’s Daniel Ricciardo, who also stuggled with rear end grip, spinning into the grass at turn two early on after very little running yesterday.

Alpine’s Esteban Ocon was 14th in the order, ahead of Bottas’ teammate Guanyu Zhou and Haas’s Nico Hulkenberg. Ocon teammate Pierre Gasly was next, ahead of Aston’s Lance Stroll and Albon’s teammate Logan Sargeant, driving a repaired car following his off into the barriers in the opening practice yesterday.

Haas’ Kevin Magnussen struggled at turn 11 in the opening minutes of the session, ultimately taking the last position on the timing sheets.

Qualifying will begin at 2:30p today, with continued dry weather forecast.