McLaren completed a sweep of the three practice sessions for the Japanese Grand Prix as Lando Norris narrowly led team mate Oscar Piastri in the final hour before qualifying.

The two MCL39s were separated by just two hundredths of a second at the top of the times. However the session came to an early end due to another grass fire next to the track, the fourth of the weekend.

Norris’s lap of 1’27.965 is the quickest seen so far this weekend. Only the McLaren drivers dipped under the 1’28 mark, as George Russell led the charge for Mercedes a tenth of a second behind.

Charles Leclerc was fourth-fastest for Ferrari, though he was displeased to encounter a Williams in the high-speed Esses section during one run. Lewis Hamilton was just a tenth of a second behind his team mate.

The two Ferraris were separated by Max Verstappen, who spent much of the session running on the hard tyres and lingering near the bottom of the times in his Red Bull. Despite a late improvement bringing him to half a second off the McLarens, Verstappen remained concerned about his car’s balance, telling race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase it felt “all over the shop.”

There was some good news for Red Bull, as Yuki Tsunoda lapped within three tenths of a second of his team mate. They were separated by Alexander Albon’s Williams and Pierre Gasly’s Alpine.

Isack Hadjar was a mere thousandth of a second off Tsunoda in 10th place. The Racing Bulls driver pitted early in the session due to an unspecified problem in his cockpit which Hadjar warned his team was “bad”.

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Jack Doohan completed a trouble-free session in his repaired Alpine. Fernando Alonso also logged useful laps after causing a red flag yesterday. His team mate Lance Stroll was only 19th, however, his rear wing DRS flap visibly fluttering at one stage.

The stewards will investigate Verstappen and Piastri for potentially failing to comply with the race director’s instructions in incidents which appeared similar to those involving Hamilton and Stroll yesterday.

After the end of the session an FIA spokesperson said it will continue dampening the grass around the track before the start of qualifying in an effort to prevent any further fires occuring.

2025 Japanese Grand Prix Grand Prix third practice result

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2025 Japanese Grand Prix Grand Prix combined practice times

P.#DriverTeamFP1 timeFP2 timeFP3 timeGapLaps
14Lando NorrisMcLaren-Mercedes1’28.5491’28.1631’27.96553
281Oscar PiastriMcLaren-Mercedes1’29.7081’28.1141’27.9910.02655
363George RussellMercedes1’28.7121’28.5671’28.0770.11257
416Charles LeclercFerrari1’28.9651’28.5861’28.4140.44954
51Max VerstappenRed Bull-Honda RBPT1’29.0651’28.6701’28.4970.53253
66Isack HadjarRacing Bulls-Honda RBPT1’29.2251’28.5181’28.7860.55356
744Lewis HamiltonFerrari1’29.0511’28.5441’28.5240.55952
823Alexander AlbonWilliams-Mercedes1’29.3921’29.0231’28.5540.58940
930Liam LawsonRacing Bulls-Honda RBPT1’29.5361’28.5591’29.1040.59445
1010Pierre GaslyAlpine-Renault1’29.5471’28.7571’28.6030.63851
1122Yuki TsunodaRed Bull-Honda RBPT1’29.1721’30.6251’28.7850.82052
1255Carlos Sainz JnrWilliams-Mercedes1’29.3331’28.8321’28.8460.86759
1327Nico HulkenbergSauber-Ferrari1’30.0231’29.0621’30.6211.09750
1412Andrea Kimi AntonelliMercedes1’29.2841’29.7331’29.1261.16161
1514Fernando AlonsoAston Martin-Mercedes1’29.2221’29.9781’29.7721.25747
165Gabriel BortoletoSauber-Ferrari1’30.1471’29.3351’30.1341.37052
1762Ryo HirakawaAlpine-Renault1’29.3941.42924
1831Esteban OconHaas-Ferrari1’30.1231’29.5071’30.1831.54251
1987Oliver BearmanHaas-Ferrari1’30.0771’29.6541’30.0841.68944
2018Lance StrollAston Martin-Mercedes1’29.7581’30.8451’30.2671.79353
217Jack DoohanAlpine-Renault1’31.6591’29.7671.80219

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2025 Japanese Grand Prix

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