The summary of the third free practice session of the Japanese GP is quickly made: Max Verstappen is the fastest in the flying lap with the Red Bull, while Charles Leclerc stands out in the race simulation with the Ferrari. Having missed yesterday's second round due to drizzle complicated the teams' plans at Suzuka. The curious aspect is that those who manage to prepare for qualifying then find themselves in difficulty during the race simulations, discovering how difficult it is to find a good balance to keep the tires in the right operating window.
Red Bull stands out because behind Verstappen, who complains about understeer, there is a consistent Sergio Perez, a sign that the RB20 with the new configuration works. In the long run the times were uninteresting as if Milton Keynes wanted to mix things up a bit, perhaps because they didn't push the mapping of the Honda engine. It is no coincidence that Max reached 1'29″63 without ever being the fastest in one of the three split times and this may be indicative of the fact that the world champion team has covered itself.
It is surprising to see the Ferrari lost in the flying lap: Carlos Sainz is seventh with 1'30″171 which leaves the Spaniard 6 tenths behind the Dutchman, while Charles Leclerc is actually tenth with a gap of eight tenths. The striking difference is not real, even if the Monegasque complained over the radio that he hadn't been able to make a change to the front wing to remove some of the annoying understeer.
The red did not shine on the soft tyres, improving only by 3 tenths compared to the time obtained on the medium tyres at the start of the session, when the change of compound is worth more than a second. It's clear that a poker game is being played between the top teams in Suzuka, so much so that the SF-24 seemed very good in the long run, decidedly faster than the Red Bull one. In Maranello they worked a lot for the race, but the Japanese track is not a track that allows many overtaking if you are not in front in qualifying.
And so behind the Red Bulls the two Mercedes emerge, decidedly more at ease than in Australia. George Russell is third, the only driver to break through the 1'30″ barrier together with the two RB20s. The Englishman reached 1'29″918, leaving Max 355 thousandths of a second. Lewis Hamilton is right behind his teammate with a delay of 69 thousandths, a sign that things are getting better. George did the simulation with the yellows, while Lewis dedicated himself to the soft, a sign that there were no clear ideas on what to do.
Fernando Alonso's fifth place was excellent: the Spaniard received the new aerodynamic package during the night and Aston Martin broke the curfew to fit out the AMR24 with the new features. The Asturian seems satisfied because he slightly penalized the flying lap (half a second gap from the Re Bull), but he made a decisive step forward in the long run: Fernando was competitive with the Ferraris despite using hard tyres. Lance Stroll was more in difficulty, only 18th on the time list, while the Canadian defended his pace well.
Lando Norris, sixth, and Oscar Piastri, eighth, bring the McLaren to the rear of the “verdona” and put Sainz's Ferrari in the way. Yuki Tsunoda's performance with Racing Bulls was positive: the Japanese is ninth in front of his fans and does not seem to feel this pressure, a sign that he has reached a good level of maturation. Daniel Ricciardo was in difficulty only 13th with the other car from Faenza, 4 tenths behind his teammate. The Australian also suffered a harmless spin in the second sector.
Outside the top 10 is Alexander Albon with the Williams, while Logan Sargeant with the car repaired after yesterday's crash doesn't get beyond 19th place. Sauber tried to react to a terrible start to the season: Valtteri Bottas is 12th, while Guanyu Zhou is 15th. There is a move closer to the center group. Small signs of improvement also for Alpine: with the new front wing Esteban Ocon is 14th, while Pierre Gasly suffers more only 17th.
The very dancing Haas are in difficulty at Suzuka: Nico Hulkenberg is 17th and Kevin Magnussen last. The Dane didn't find confidence on the Japanese track, making several mistakes with the very unpredictable VF-24.
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