Japanese Grand Prix – Free Practice 3: Red Bull double ahead of Mercedes before qualifying

During the third free practice session of the Japanese Grand Prix, Max Verstappen took the lead by setting a time of 1m30.265s at the beginning of the session. Lewis Hamilton quickly took the lead with a time of 1m30.065s, which he maintained for a large part of the session before being ultimately beaten by both Red Bulls and his teammate. The teams took advantage of this session to complete long runs, in order to make up for the partially cancelled second free practice session the day before due to weather conditions.

The last part of the FP3 saw some teams increase their power and intentions. It was Max Verstappen who took the first place with a time of 1m29.563s, without however achieving any purple sectors indicating dominance. Sergio Perez interposed between Verstappen and Hamilton, pushing the latter down to fourth place.

Fernando Alonso achieved a great performance by finishing fifth for the Aston Martin team. Lando Norris, on the other hand, secured the sixth position despite a small mistake on the track. Carlos Sainz is only in 7th place and the leading Ferrari, while Charles Leclerc had to settle for the tenth position behind Oscar Piastri and Yuki Tsunoda, who are in the Top 10.

More information in a few moments…

The results of Free Practice 3 of the 2024 Japanese Grand Prix