FP3 at the 2026 F1 Japanese GP is in the books, view the full report here. On Friday, George Russell was fastest in FP1, with Oscar Piastri quickest in FP2.
After gremlins early doors in FP2, Lando Norris’s difficult run continued. Ahead of FP3, McLaren said: “The team have identified an issue with the ERS pack on Lando’s car, which now needs to be replaced. At the moment, it looks extremely unlikely that the car will make FP3, but the team are still working to prepare the car should it be possible to participate in the session”.
Alpine’s Franco Colapinto started things off in FP3 on a 1:33.665 using medium tyres. A couple of minutes later, Pierre Gasly smashed in a 1:32.860 to go 0.8s faster.
Using softs, Lewis Hamilton went purple in Sectors 1 and 2 to put in a 1:32.283. The seven-time World Champion, Gasly, Colapinto, Bottas, Stroll and Pérez were the only drivers to have done a time after 10 minutes.
At the final chicane, Sergio Pérez locked up and took a trip through the gravel in his Cadillac.
After car #44 got down to a 1:31.056, teammate Charles Leclerc pipped him by 0.038s. Gasly, Bortoleto and Hülkenberg completed the top 5.
Mercedes versus Charles Leclerc
On his first lap of the day, a 1:30.418 from Kimi Antonelli put him exactly 0.600s ahead of Leclerc. The Monegasque got a lot closer on his next effort, moving 0.118s away. George Russell was 0.009s slower than the Ferrari driver on his opening attempt.
Once more, Charles Leclerc found some more, logging a 1:30.229 to go P1. He was 0.166s faster than George Russell, with Kimi Antonelli a further 0.023s back.
Piastri, Hamilton, Bortoleto, Lindblad, Hülkenberg, Verstappen and Lawson completed the top 10 halfway through.
Through the Degners, Leclerc had big snaps of oversteer. The Ferrari driver then had some rear locking at the hairpin to complete a hairy three corners.
Mercedes fought back at the front. A 1:29.918 from George Russell put him 0.011s ahead of his Italian teammate, with Antonelli a full three tenths faster than car #16.
Lando Norris appears in FP3 at the 2026 F1 Japanese GP
Thanks to a stunning job by the McLaren mechanics, the defending World Champion appeared on circuit with just under 25 minutes to go. He moved up to P11 on his opening push lap, before going P6 on the second attempt.
Getting on throttle out of Spoon, Ollie Bearman had a big spin and damaged his tyres with big flat spots.
Mercedes in complete control
Out front, Mercedes went early on the second new of softs in FP3 at the 2026 F1 Japanse GP. A 1:29.362 from Kimi Antonelli was an impressive 0.254s faster than George Russell. He was purple in Sectors 2 and 3. Leclerc failed to improve on the second set, finishing up 0.867s away.
Audi were massively impressive in P7 and P9, as Max Verstappen could only split Hülkenberg and Bortoleto.
For a second day in a row, Spoon was causing trouble. Lawson ran wide, annoyed at Ocon for giving dirty air. Charles Leclerc went off on his own.
