Qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix is underway at Suzuka.
Antonelli Sets Early Pace
The Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli was released from the garage and the Italian lifted himself above Oscar Piastri and Charles Leclerc to sit fastest with a 1:30.035.
History was made at the Chinese Grand Prix a fortnight ago when Kimi Antonelli became the youngest driver to set pole position in Formula 1 at the age of 19, beating the previous record held by four-time world champion Sebastian Ve.
Leclerc Pips Antonelli, Russell Complains of Oversteer
Lewis Hamilton split the papaya pair to go second on the timesheets, seconds before his Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc shot to the top with a time of 1:30.078. Hamilton is now third, with Oscar Piastri the piggy in the middle of the Scuderia pair.
That’s more like it from George Russell as he stepped over Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli and took second on the timing screen, 0.052 seconds off the pace of Charles Leclerc.
Gworge Russell has dropped to seventh n the timesheets as Charles Leclerc goes 0.120 seconds quicker than Kimi Antonelli to go top.
Russell comes on the team radio to highlight issues with his car to the pit wall.
Russell: “Something doesn’t feel quite right. I’ve got loads of oversteer.”
Engineer: “We can see the surface temperature is out of balance”
Russell: “Really odd. It feels aerodynamical. No rear.”
Q1 Sees Williams and Aston Martin Struggle
The two Williams of Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz are in the bottom six along with both Aston Martins and the Cadillac pair of Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas.
With more teams on the grid this year – hello, Cadillac – the six slowest cars will be given the boot in Q1 and Q2. The Racing Bulls are out and Arvid Lindblad puts the first time on the board with a 1:31.634. Everyone has ventured out on the soft C3 compound.
Hulkenberg in Points Contention
Are Audi on for a decent points haul in Japan? Nico Hulkenberg is running in sixth place with Gabriel Bortoleto in 10th. German Hulkenberg was fifth, above Lewis Hamilton, but the seven-time world champion climbs to third place with his latest attempt on the soft compound.
Norris Battles Back After Practice Issues
If you’re a Lando Norris fan, your man is out on track after troubles with the battery in final practice. The world champion goes second fastest, 0.238 seconds behind McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri.
Jennie Gow, F1 pit-lane reporter at Suzuka, highlights the importance of precision during qualifying: the energy deployment, the warm-up, how you get your opening lap away before you do your fast lap. These are complex cars and this is only the third race. So, when it comes to qualifying, do we have a fight on our hands? I think so.