F1: Verstappen tops final practice for Japanese GP

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen turned a lap of 1m30.671s on his final run in Practice 3 for the Japanese GP at Suzuka.

That lap was enough to beat the two Ferraris of Carlos Sainz jr. by 0.294s and Charles Leclerc by 0.309s.

Max Verstappen of the Netherlands driving the (1) Oracle Red Bull Racing RB18 on track during final practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Japan at Suzuka International Racing Course on October 08, 2022 in Suzuka, Japan. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images) // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool

Fernando Alonso was an excellent 4th, 0.649s behind Verstappen while Sergio Perez rounded out the top-5 in the 2nd Red Bull Honda.

With drivers and teams pushing to gather as much data as possible, a variety of short and long runs – using a combination of Pirelli’s soft, medium and hard rubber – were carried out across the 60-minute session.

George Russell led Mercedes’s charge in sixth position, half a tenth up on teammate Lewis Hamilton, though had a scare into the Turn 11 hairpin late on as he “almost crashed into” the slow-moving Pierre Gasly.

Mick Schumacher, who crashed on an in-lap in FP1 to miss the entirety of FP2 owing to a chassis change, followed Haas team-mate Kevin Magnussen home in 16th.

Just a few Japanese fans showed up at Suzuka Saturday morning to see Red Bull Drivers Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen

Practice 3 Results

POS NO DRIVER CAR TIME GAP LAPS
1 1 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing Honda 1:30.671 +0.000s 21
2 55 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:30.965 +0.294s 27
3 16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:30.980 +0.309s 26
4 14 Fernando Alonso Alpine Renault 1:31.320 +0.649s 20
5 11 Sergio Perez Red Bull Racing Honda 1:31.514 +0.843s 24
6 63 George Russell Mercedes 1:31.530 +0.859s 28
7 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:31.589 +0.918s 25
8 4 Lando Norris McLaren Mercedes 1:31.747 +1.076s 26
9 31 Esteban Ocon Alpine Renault 1:31.750 +1.079s 21
10 18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes 1:31.838 +1.167s 24
11 3 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren Mercedes 1:31.860 +1.189s 27
12 23 Alexander Albon Williams Mercedes 1:31.946 +1.275s 26
13 77 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo Ferrari 1:31.971 +1.300s 23
14 5 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes 1:32.222 +1.551s 24
15 20 Kevin Magnussen Haas Ferrari 1:32.290 +1.619s 22
16 47 Mick Schumacher Haas Ferrari 1:32.366 +1.695s 23
17 22 Yuki Tsunoda Alphatauri Honda 1:32.377 +1.706s 26
18 24 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo Ferrari 1:32.385 +1.714s 23
19 6 Nicholas Latifi Williams Mercedes 1:32.868 +2.197s 25
20 10 Pierre Gasly Alphatauri Honda 1:32.881 +2.210s 24