The Silver Arrows seem to be the best, good feedback from Leclerc
Formula 1 returns to the track in Japan, two weeks after the last race weekend in Shanghai, which saw the first victory of Andrea Kimi Antonelli. The venue for the third round of the season is the historic Suzuka circuit, which will host Formula 1 before a long break of over a month, due to the cancellation of the Grands Prix in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
In the first free practice session, the fastest was the usual George Russell, with Antonelli completing a Mercedes one-two. Behind them, as the main challengers, were the two McLarens, while Leclerc and Hamilton finished in fifth and sixth place respectively. In FP2, however, the fastest was Oscar Piastri, ahead of the two Mercedes of Antonelli and Russell.
For the Japanese round, Pirelli has opted to bring the hardest compounds available, namely C1 (Hard), C2 (Medium), and C3 (Soft), mainly to cope with the high lateral forces drivers experience at the Japanese circuit, particularly through the 130R corner. Since the 2019 edition, the Italian manufacturer has consistently brought this tyre selection.
As stated by Mario Isola to Sky Sport F1 during FP2, a one-stop race is expected, just like in the 2025 edition, in which Max Verstappen triumphed ahead of the McLaren duo of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
The weather in Japan has always played a key role, as happened for example in 2019, when qualifying was even held on Sunday morning. Nevertheless, no rain is expected over the weekend, with cloudy skies on both days and only a slight chance of rain on Sunday, albeit with low probability.
Race pace analysis FP2 Japan: this morning’s times
In this morning’s FP2, most drivers used the final 20 minutes of the session for race pace simulations. Arvid Lindblad did not take to the track in this session due to technical issues with his VCARB03, while Gabriel Bortoleto only went out in the last five minutes.
A difficult session also for reigning World Champion Lando Norris, who only went out in the second half of the session due to new technical issues with his McLaren. The British driver, however, focused exclusively on qualifying runs, without performing any long runs.
Although Oscar Piastri was the fastest in the qualifying simulation, Mercedes appears to be the favorite ahead of Sunday’s race, with George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli running consistently between 1:34 and 1:35, showing little fluctuation on medium tyres.
Medium tyres were also used by the fastest driver in FP2, Oscar Piastri, whose times were, however, more inconsistent compared to the two Mercedes drivers. In fact, the Australian driver started at 1:34.875, then climbed to around 1:36 in the final laps.
The best race simulation was delivered by Charles Leclerc, also on medium tyres: the Monegasque driver started in the high 1:34s, then rose to the low 1:35s, remaining consistent up to the eighth and final lap of the simulation. Lewis Hamilton, on the other hand, struggled after his first podium with Ferrari in China: the British driver reported over the radio a lack of confidence with his SF-26, which was also reflected in his times, consistently slower than those of his teammate.
Behind these three teams is Red Bull, with Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar carrying out a long run on hard tyres. Further back, in the midfield, Haas and Alpine are battling for the final points positions, with the American team showing more competitiveness in the qualifying simulation.
PHOTO: Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team, GPKingdom.
