Japanese GP: Verstappen sets pace in dry FP3 from Ferrari pair
Max Verstappen ended up fastest in the first dry running in F1 Japanese GP in FP3 from Ferrari pair of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc.
As expected, it was dry weather conditions in Suzuka for the FP3 session in F1 Japanese GP weekend, as Red Bull’s Verstappen set the pace with a 1m30.671s lap from the Ferrari pair of Sainz (1m30.965s) and Leclerc (1m30.980s) on the soft compound.
Alpine’s Fernando Alonso (1m31.320s) showed strong form in fourth from the other Red Bull of Sergio Perez (1m31.514s) despite a small moment for the Spaniard, with the Mercedes pair of George Russell (1m31.530s) and Lewis Hamilton (1m31.589s) in sixth and seventh behind them.
The Brit had couple of run-ins in the session, one against Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel and other with AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly. The leading McLaren of Lando Norris (1m31.747s) was eighth from Alpine’s Esteban Ocon (1m31.750s).
Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll (1m31.838s) put in a good lap to be 10th, with McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo not far behind in 11th. Williams’ Alexander Albon also showed pace in 12th from Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas who dropped outside the Top 10.
Vettel was 14th from the Haas pair of Kevin Magnussen and Mick Schumacher, where the German returned to the cockpit with a new chassis fitted. AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda was only 17th from Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu in the order.
Williams’ Nicholas Latifi ended up 19th despite a moment, while AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly – who will switch to Alpine in 2023 – was only 20th after he couldn’t stitch in a quick fast lap.
