The Mercedes F1 driver, Kimi Antonelli, has achieved the best time in the FP3 session at the Japanese Grand Prix, outperforming his teammate George Russell. This performance positions Mercedes as a clear favorite ahead of qualifying, with a significant lead over their rivals, Ferrari and McLaren.
The early attempts at fast laps were dominated by the Ferraris, but Antonelli set the pace with a time of 1m30.418s on his first lap on soft tires. This time was three-tenths behind the best time of Oscar Piastri in FP2 on Friday. Then, Antonelli became the first to break the 30-second barrier, recording 1m29.929s.
With just 18 minutes remaining, Antonelli improved his mark with a spectacular 1m29.392s, leading all three sectors and keeping Russell a quarter of a second behind. Thus, Mercedes arrives at qualifying with a clear advantage over the competition.
The best time for Ferrari was a 1m30.299s achieved by Charles Leclerc, who slowed down on his last fast lap, widening his gap with Antonelli. Piastri placed fourth, with a time that left him a second behind and slightly ahead of Lewis Hamilton.
After a painful double retirement in Shanghai, McLaren faced more issues with their engine, forcing the replacement of the electric motor of Lando Norris. However, the British driver joined the session later, achieving sixth place.
In a surprising seventh place was Nico Hulkenberg, although the report of more than 1.3 seconds behind the leader suggests that the difficulties of other drivers contributed to his good result. Meanwhile, Max Verstappen continued to struggle with his car, experiencing both oversteer and understeer, finishing eighth with a time of 1m30.910s.
The Audi drivers, Gabriel Bortoleto and Pierre Gasly, completed the top ten, over 1.6 seconds behind Antonelli. The session ended without major incidents, except for an exciting spin by Oliver Bearman, who was praised by Russell for his recovery skills.
The qualifying for the third Grand Prix of the 2026 season is scheduled for 15:00 local time.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
