Formula 1 News: Norris tops practice 1 for the 2025 Japanese GP

Lando Norris driving the superior #4 McLaren-Mercedes turned a lap of 1m28.549s to top opening practice for the 2025 Japanese GP F1 race at Suzuka.

–by Mark Cipolloni–

It was not all plain sailing for the Brit, he ran wide and also complaining about front tire graining on his longer runs.

George Russell put his Mercedes in 2nd, just 0.163s behind Norris.

Next were the two Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, 0.416s and 0.502s behind Norris respectively.

Max Verstappen rounded out the top-5 for Red Bull, 0.516s behind the McLaren of Norris.

Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate was an excellent 6th in his first time driving the RB21, 0.623s behind Norris. He called the car “interesting” on the radio as he says he has plenty to feedback to the team.

Fernando Alonso was a respectable 7th for Aston Martin, 0.673s behind Norris.

There were a few offs in the session but no red flags. A busy session and by and large everyone got decent running in.

2025 Japanese GP Practice 1 Results