Kimi Antonelli finished fastest in Free Practice 3 ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix, beating team mate George Russell as Mercedes continued their strong start to 2026.
The Italian posted a 1m 29.362s to finish nearly three tenths clear of Russell, and was more than eight tenths clear of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in third.
Saturday’s one-hour practice session was the final chance for drivers and teams to gain crucial knowledge and fine tune setups ahead of Qualifying later today at the Suzuka Circuit.
Despite this, it took until the clock reached close to 15 minutes before the majority of the field had taken to the track and conducted some form of running, Lewis Hamilton initially putting down the benchmark using Pirelli’s soft tyre before Ferrari team mate Leclerc went fractionally quicker with a 1m 31.018s.
One driver only able to complete minimal running was reigning World Champion Lando Norris, the McLaren driver’s technical issues from Friday continued to plague him as his MCL40 remained in the garage until there were just 25 minutes left on the clock due to an ERS (Energy Recovery System) problem.
Antonelli became the first driver to dip below the 1m 31s barrier approaching the 20-minute mark, posting a 1m 30.418s to comfortably go fastest by six-tenths from Leclerc, before the Ferrari driver soon brought the margin down to just over one-tenth.
Russell slotted into third with his initial run, also one-tenth behind Antonelli, as traffic through 130R became an issue with both Hulkenberg and Bottas feeling aggrieved.
Approaching the halfway point, Leclerc went fastest on a 1m 30.229s as Antonelli was unable to respond with his next effort before Russell slotted between the pair, both Mercedes drivers losing time in the final sector compared with Leclerc.
Antonelli then became the first driver this weekend to dip below the 1m 30s barrier, setting a 1m 29.929s entering the final 30 minutes before Russell lowered the benchmark by a further 0.011s.
Norris’ initial run put him 11th as he was finally able to get out for some running, just before Russell set a 1m 29.616s that was then immediately beaten by Antonelli’s 1m 29.362s, which would finish as the fastest time in FP3.
Leclerc remained best of the rest at the chequered flag, albeit more than eight-tenths behind, with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri fourth followed by Hamilton and Norris, who was 1.2s away from Antonelli’s effort.
The top 10 was completed by Nico Hulkenberg (Audi), Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, the second Audi of Gabriel Bortoleto and Pierre Gasly (Alpine).
Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar led the two Racing Bulls of Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad, with Esteban Ocon heading Haas team mate Ollie Bearman – the young Briton having suffered a huge scare exiting Spoon Curve and spinning before rejoining without hitting anything.
Alex Albon was P16 and just ahead of Williams team mate Carlos Sainz, from Franco Colapinto (Alpine) and the Cadillac of Valtteri Bottas.
The second Cadillac of Sergio Perez was P20 after a small excursion through the gravel at the final chicane, as the order was completed by the Aston Martins of Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso who were more than four seconds adrift.
.webp?ssl=1 "George Russell heads Mercedes 1-2 in opening practice session in Japan")
