Lando Norris was fastest in first practice for this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix, the McLaren driver set a 28.549 going just over a tenth and a half a head of George Russell. But it wasn’t all easy for the championship leader as he sounded agitated with the tyres and graining while his teammate Oscar Piastri could only manage fifteenth after mistakes on his soft run leaving him a second off Norris.
Russell put his Mercedes a quarter of a second ahead of both Ferrari’s, after topping most of the hour-long session as Norris struggled to get to grips with the car before getting a clean run. Norris took an aggressive approach before his clean rung as he ran wide at Casio Triangle, before putting in a clean soft run to top the times.
Charles Leclerc denied a British top three going a quarter of a second behind Russell and nine hundredths ahead of Ferrari teammate Lewis Hamilton. Ferrari goes into this weekend looking to claw back points following their worst start to a season in fifteen years and to bounce back from their double disqualification in Shanghai.
McLaren are the favourites having won both the opening Grands Prix, despite Norris looking to struggle at stages and then finding time to go fastest suggesting they were experimenting with setups and adjustments. The fact he was then able to go fastest despite clearly not having found an optimal setup should serve as a warning to the chasing pack.
Ferrari was also looking it appears to find the right set up and resolve their mixed start to the season.
Hamilton was a hundredth faster than the two Red Bull’s with Max Verstappen a tenth faster than new teammate Yuki Tsunoda but given this was the Japanese driver’s first outing in the car was a decent start to his home race. But the team still looks to be struggling to find the pace to challenge at the front, Verstappen was half a second off the pace of Norris and a tenth off Leclerc.
Tsunoda was remarkably promoted to Red Bull from junior team Racing Bulls just two races into the season, with Liam Lawson demoted little more than three months after the Milton Keynes squad had chosen the New Zealander to be Verstappen’s team-mate for the 2025 season.
Fernando Alonso put his Aston Martin seventh best of the rest, the two-time champion was half a tenth behind Tsunoda as he went narrowly faster than Isack Hadjar’s Racing Bull. Kimi Antonelli was ninth as he went six hundredths ahead of Carlos Sainz before both looked to struggle on their long runs.
Sainz reported that he didn’t like the sharper front end of the Williams after a set-up change, while Antonelli had a moment at the hairpin in sector two. But the Spaniard was still six hundredths faster than his teammate Alex Albon.
Ryo Hirakawa was the first rookie to take part in an FP1 session for Alpine this season replacing fellow rookie Jack Doohan, the Japanese driver was eight and a half tenths off Norris as he went almost a tenth and a half ahead of Lawson. The New Zealander split the two Alpine’s as he went a hundredth faster than Pierre Gasly.
Piastri’s difficulties in setting a reprehensive lap on softs left him fifteenth, over a tenth and a half behind Gasly and half a tenth faster than Lance Stroll. The Canadian was half a second off teammate Alonso with the Sauber and Haas’s completing the field. Nico Hulkenberg half a tenth ahead of Ollie Bearman and Esteban Ocon, with his teammate Gabriel Bortoleto completing the field.
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