George Russell leads Suzuka FP1, Antonelli 0.026s behind

George Russell led first practice for the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka in 1:31.666, with Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli just 0.026s adrift, underlining Mercedes' strong start to the season.

Mercedes built the one-two after a clean progression through tire work. Russell opened on the hard compound, then switched to softs for his fastest lap. Antonelli also used softs to post a 1:31.692 and complete the lockout at the top. The tight gap showed how closely matched the pair were on low fuel and fresh rubber. Pirelli brought its hardest range, the C1 to C3, to suit Suzuka’s abrasive surface. Many teams ran early laps on the C1 before moving to the C3 for headline times.

McLaren set the pace behind the silver cars. Lando Norris took third and Oscar Piastri finished fourth to mark the team as the closest challenger in the opening hour. Norris’s presence near the front drew attention after his reliability troubles in Shanghai earlier in the season. McLaren’s runs appeared well-timed as the track gained grip, and the pair slotted in behind the Mercedes cars once the soft-tire phase began.

Red Bull did not match the speed of Mercedes or McLaren in this session. Max Verstappen ended the morning in seventh place despite recent updates to the Red Bull car. The reigning champion cycled through the compounds but did not threaten the top spots when the soft-tire laps arrived. The team gathered mileage on the harder tires early on, then moved to performance runs as the session evolved, but the gap remained.

The timing sheets told a stark story for Aston Martin. The team finished at the back, with Lance Stroll in 21st and Jak Crawford in 22nd. Suzuka’s long, fast corners test balance and stability. With Pirelli’s harder range in play and limited session time, falling out of step on setup can leave little margin to recover before the soft-tire sprints. Aston Martin will look to sift through data from both ends of the compound range to find a better window for the rest of the weekend.

The session flowed through a typical Suzuka rhythm. Early programs focused on baseline checks on the C1 as teams charted grip and wind over the high-speed S curves. As rubber went down, laps on the C2 helped define the crossover to the C3 for qualifying-style runs. Russell’s move from hard to soft delivered immediate gains. Antonelli tracked that pattern and stayed within a whisker. McLaren followed suit and split the pack behind them. Red Bull’s attempts to close in on softs did not land in the same range, leaving work to do on both balance and traction through the final sector.

Mercedes’ early-season form held steady in Japan. The team found one-lap speed on the hardest tire selection of the year so far and converted it when the softs came out. McLaren put itself in clear pursuit. Red Bull sat further back on the opening day picture. Aston Martin faced the opposite end of the order. With tire choices set by Pirelli for the demands of Suzuka, the first runs showed who adapted quickest to the track’s unique load and surface. The stopwatch had Mercedes on top, led by Russell, with Antonelli almost level and the rest chasing.