Red Bull wasted no time Saturday afternoon asserting their dominance as Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez went 1-2 in the final practice session as teams prepared for their qualifying and race setups prior to Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix. Echoing the performance of FP1, Verstappen further raised the bar in dry conditions, setting a sub 1:30 lap time by nearly a half-second, with Perez 0.269s behind as the pair of Bulls outshined the suddenly resurgent Mercedes duo of Russell and Hamilton. While Russell ended his session 3rd on the time sheets, Hamilton was not far behind as he was narrowly beat out by Russell with a gap of only 0.119s.
Fernando Alonso took his Aston Martin to 5th on the sheets, followed by Lando Norris and the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz. Birthday boy, Oscar Piastri, ended 8th on the time sheets ahead of Yuki Tsunoda and Charles LeClerc.
Qualifying for Sunday’s race will take place in a few hours time at 15:00 local time. With the Japanese Grand Prix being held in April for the first time, the cooler temperatures and decreased risk of rain is a welcome sight. However, local forecasts show a roughly 30-40% chance of rain on race day, making Saturday’s qualifying session even more important to nail down.
FP1 Report – CLICK HERE
FP2 Report – CLICK HERE
FORMULA 1 MSC CRUISES JAPANESE GRAND PRIX 2024 Schedule
| Date | Session | Time (Local Circuit) |
| Apr. 5th | Practice 1 | 11:30 – 12:30 |
| Practice 2 | 15:00 – 16:00 | |
| Apr. 6th | Practice 3 | 11:30 – 12:30 |
| Qualifying | 15:00 – 16:00 | |
| Apr. 7th | Race | 14:00 |
Free Practice 3 Results:
| POS | NO | DRIVER | CAR | TIME | GAP | LAPS |
| 1 | 1 | Max Verstappen | RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT | 1:29.563 | 23 | |
| 2 | 11 | Sergio Perez | RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT | 1:29.832 | 0.269s | 25 |
| 3 | 63 | George Russell | MERCEDES | 1:29.918 | 0.355s | 24 |
| 4 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | MERCEDES | 1:30.037 | 0.474s | 21 |
| 5 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES | 1:30.082 | 0.519s | 24 |
| 6 | 4 | Lando Norris | MCLAREN MERCEDES | 1:30.137 | 0.574s | 14 |
| 7 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | FERRARI | 1:30.171 | 0.608s | 27 |
| 8 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | MCLAREN MERCEDES | 1:30.226 | 0.663s | 19 |
| 9 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB HONDA RBPT | 1:30.341 | 0.778s | 21 |
| 10 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | FERRARI | 1:30.383 | 0.820s | 25 |
| 11 | 23 | Alexander Albon | WILLIAMS MERCEDES | 1:30.533 | 0.970s | 23 |
| 12 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | KICK SAUBER FERRARI | 1:30.546 | 0.983s | 26 |
| 13 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB HONDA RBPT | 1:30.682 | 1.119s | 24 |
| 14 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | ALPINE RENAULT | 1:31.022 | 1.459s | 18 |
| 15 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | KICK SAUBER FERRARI | 1:31.067 | 1.504s | 16 |
| 16 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | HAAS FERRARI | 1:31.139 | 1.576s | 21 |
| 17 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | ALPINE RENAULT | 1:31.141 | 1.578s | 19 |
| 18 | 18 | Lance Stroll | ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES | 1:31.342 | 1.779s | 23 |
| 19 | 2 | Logan Sargeant | WILLIAMS MERCEDES | 1:31.452 | 1.889s | 20 |
| 20 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | HAAS FERRARI | 1:31.462 | 1.899s | 22 |
