Red Bull on top ahead of qualifying at Suzuka
A far smoother start to Saturday’s processions saw Max Verstappen rewarded with the fastest time of the final practice session, out of touch with the rest of the grid ahead of this afternoon’s all-important qualifying session.
Japan turned it on for the final practice session of the weekend, with conditions far warmer than yesterday afternoon’s dampened FP2 session at Suzuka.
Due to the impacted and limited running on Friday, it was no surprise to see many drivers queuing in anticipation of the green light.
No stranger to success at Suzuka after winning his second world title at the iconic track, Max Verstappen was the leader of the pack as he set off on his first out lap.
His opening lap time was a 1:30.265s on the C2 compound.
Nico Hulkenberg was another eager driver to head out straight away, locking up on his first lap around the 5.8km circuit.
It was his teammate, however, who had a bigger moment just minutes later.
Kevin Magnussen temporarily brought out yellow flags at the Turn 11 hairpin after testing the late-braking limits of his VF-24.
He ended that corner in the gravel after skidding across the grass but was able to continue on.
Kevin Magnussen leaving the pit lane during FP3 at the Japanese GP. Image: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images.
Lewis Hamilton was the first driver to set a time on the soft tyre, obviously shooting to the top of the order with a time exactly two-tenths quicker than Verstappen’s.
With 10 minutes gone in the hour-long session, McLaren, Alpine and Logan Sargeant were all yet to make an on-track appearance.
Williams Team Principal James Vowles had commended his team’s “resilience” after Logan Sargeant’s heavy crash in FP1 and Alex Albon’s crash in Australia two weeks ago.
The British team had an extra edge of need in the final practice session, wanting to calibrate the repairs on Sargeant’s car ahead of this afternoon’s qualifying session.
Meanwhile, Albon had been out for a few exploratory laps, however, was yet to set a time before saying that he had “zero confidence in the car”.
Once joining the running, Sargeant backed his teammate up, saying he had “no rear support” in his FW46.
On Daniel Ricciardo’s first run, the Australian followed Yuki Tsunoda around the Japanese driver’s home circuit to set an opening time of 1:31.129s, just five- hundredths slower than Tsunoda as the RB duo slotted into P8 and P9.
On his second run, Ricciardo lost the rear of his VCARB 01 midway through Turn 2, seeing the Australian taking an unhelpful trip through the grass during his first unaffected practice session of the weekend.
Daniel Ricciardo on track during final practice session in Suzuka, Japan. Image: Peter Fox/Getty Images // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool.
The other Australian finally made his way out of the pitlane, with birthday boy Oscar Piastri first appearing on the soft compound.
Piastri’s time was a 1:30.360s which put him third fastest.
His teammate soon demoted him out of the top three, with Norris going 0.161 seconds faster than the now 23-year-old.
As for the Ferrari drivers, they remained on the medium compound tyre for much of the session.
Their times on the yellow-marked compound saw Charles Leclerc sitting in P6 and Carlos Sainz in P10.
20 minutes into the session, George Russell had completed 13 laps on the one set of medium tyres, clearly on a long run as he sat 4.4 seconds behind his teammate’s benchmark time.
Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll were the sole drivers on the hard compound, with the Aston Martin duo sitting in P9 and P13, respectively.
The radio waves were full of complaints, with Esteban Ocon reporting of “bouncing” in his A524, and Max Verstappen complaining of his RB20 understeering.
It was a dicey moment at Degner 2 for Piastri, with the #81 riding the kerbs as he rounded the fast-paced micro-sector.
His teammate would make that mistake later in the session.
Oscar Piastri, McLaren, during FP3 at the Japanese GP. Image: Zak Mauger / LAT Images.
After the bumpy ride, the Australian returned to his garage along with the rest of the field as a lull fell over the track.
With 15 minutes on the clock, only the Williams cars were circulating Suzuka.
On the soft tyre, Albon moved into P6 despite looking uncomfortable across the lap, while Sargeant only managed the 15th fastest time.
After a lengthy reset in the Mercedes garage, Russell finally relinquished his over-worked medium tyres for a fresh set of softs.
The Brit skyrocketed to the top of the table, with a time of 1:29.918s.
In the first sector, Norris went four-tenths quicker than Russell, however, it was Verstappen who demoted the #63 by 0.355s despite more complaints about his RB20.
Sergio Perez soon joined the reigning world champion in the top two times, still a significant three-tenths back on Verstappen.
With five minutes remaining, the Ferraris barely improved which left Charles Leclerc audibly annoyed come the end of the session.
Sainz marginally jumped up the order into P7, still six-tenths behind the Red Bulls, while Leclerc scraped a top-ten time.
Echoing his Alpine teammate’s complaints, Pierre Gasly said that he almost had a moment in the final minutes of the session.
The Frenchman is running a scheduled new power unit this weekend, hopeful of an improvement in performance.
At the chequered flag, it was the two Red Bulls leading over the Mercedes duo.
Come qualifying, however, that could change with differing run-plans seeing the order jumbled and unhappy drivers looking to lift this afternoon.
Qualifying will take place at 5:00 PM, AEST.
Free Practice 3 Results:
2024 Japanese Grand Prix
Friday, April 5
Practice 1: 13.30-14.30
Practice 2: 17.00-18.00
Saturday, April 6
Practice 3: 13.30-14.30
Qualifying: 17.00-18.00
Sunday, April 7
Grand Prix: 15.00
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