Kimi Antonelli led a Mercedes one-two in final Japanese GP practice, as McLaren’s Lando Norris faced more reliability woes.
KIMI Antonelli topped the timesheets for Mercedes in final practice for the Japanese Grand Prix. The Italian led teammate and championship leader George Russell by 0.254 seconds.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was third fastest, 0.867 seconds off the pace. McLaren’s Oscar Piastri finished fourth, more than a second behind Antonelli’s benchmark time.
Lewis Hamilton was fifth fastest in the second Ferrari. Lando Norris could only manage sixth after his McLaren spent over half the session in the garage with a reliability issue.
The practice performance makes Mercedes firm favourites for pole position in qualifying later on Saturday. Russell and Antonelli have locked out the front row in every qualifying session so far this season.
They are on course to give Mercedes its first season-opening hat-trick of one-two finishes since 2019. The pair are separated by just four points at the top of the drivers’ standings.
McLaren endured another difficult session after a bruising weekend in China. Neither of the team’s cars started the main race there last Sunday.
Nico Hulkenberg was seventh for Audi, ahead of Max Verstappen’s Red Bull. Gabriel Bortoleto in the other Audi and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly completed the top ten.
Qualifying at Suzuka will be run under slightly revised energy management rules. The FIA has reduced the amount of energy teams can harvest to recharge their batteries.
The change is aimed at allowing drivers to push harder during their qualifying laps.
