Mercedes back on top in final practice at Suzuka

Kimi Antonelli returned Mercedes to the top of the time sheet for final practice at the Japanese Grand Prix.

Antonelli controlled much of the session before hammering in a best time of 1m 29.362s on his final set of softs. Mercedes teammate George Russell reasserted Mercedes’s domination by completing a 1-2 practice finish, though the Briton was 0.254s off the pace, most of which was in the middle sector.

Charles Leclerc returned Ferrari to the best-of-the-rest position, but he was a whopping 0.867s off the pace and was the only driver within a second of the leading Mercedes. Leclerc was clearly pushing hard throughout the session, his car snapping and sliding from his control constantly as he sought his quickest three sectors.

Oscar Piastri, quickest in FP2, faded to fourth and finished 1.002s adrift. The Australian will also have to see the stewards after the session after weaving down the back straight and into 130R with Nico Hulkenberg behind him on a faster lap.

Lewis Hamilton was a further 0.019s adrift, looking less keen to hustle his Ferrari than Leclerc ahead of him.

Lando Norris, whose session started with his car on jacks receiving an energy recovery system change, was sixth and 1.238s off the pace in a good recovery for the Briton.

McLaren announced on Saturday morning that it had identified a problem with the Mercedes ERS and that the time it would take to change it made Norris’s participation in the session unlikely, but the mechanics pulled a blinder to get the reigning champion on track with 23 minutes on the clock. Norris got two short runs on fresh softs to lap 0.236s slower than his teammate.

Hulkenberg was seventh for Audi, 1.296s off the pace, ahead of a deeply unhappy Max Verstappen, who complained angrily over radio about transmission troubles around the lap. The Dutchman ended the hour 1.548s slower than Antonelli, putting him much closer to the midfield than the leaders. Gabriel Bortoleto made it a double Audi top 10 in ninth, ahead of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly in 10th.

Isack Hadjar was struggling in the second Red Bull Racing car on his way to 11th and finished 0.184s off Verstappen. He was only 0.003s quicker than Liam Lawson in the Racing Bulls car, who was just 0.191s quicker than rookie teammate Arvid Lindblad.

Esteban Ocon led the way for Haas in 14th ahead of teammate Oliver Bearman, who endured a lurid spin exiting Spoon late in the session but remarkably kept his car out of the barriers, with flat-spotted tires the worst of the damage. Alex Albon finished the session 16th ahead of Franco Colapinto and Carlos Sainz.

Cadillac teammate Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez were in a class of one on their way to 19th and 20th and 3.1s off the pace, while Aston Martin were adrift at the back of the field, with Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso 21st and 22nd respectively and 4.1s down.

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