What the teams said – Friday in Japan

McLaren

Norris topped the opening session for McLaren, but it was not all plain sailing. He ran wide after getting out of shape on the kerbs, kicking up plenty of grass and later complaining about graining on his longer runs. Piastri did not set a representative time on the softs in FP1, leaving his place in the pecking order an unknown. The Australian made up for that with a quick time in a disrupted FP2 session, winding up half a tenth ahead of his team mate. McLaren look quick, and they could be headed for a tight intra-team fight come Qualifying.

Lando Norris - FP1: 1:28.549, P1; FP2: 1:28.163, P2

“A good first day back on track. It takes a little bit of time to get back in the rhythm of things around here because it’s so quick, but the car is in a reasonable place. We’ll work together overnight to make some changes going into tomorrow, but I'm feeling positive.”

Oscar Piastri - FP1: 1:29.708, P15; FP2: 1:28.114, P1

“It’s been a bit of an up-and-down day but there’s definitely been positives in there. We’ve got a few things to tidy up for tomorrow. FP2 was a pretty stop-start session, which made it tricky to go through everything but there were still some good learnings. A couple of tweaks and we’ll be good to go.”

Andrea Stella, Team Principal

“It’s been a relatively productive day of practice here in Suzuka, despite the second session having been interrupted by a few Red Flags for different reasons. We are all relieved to see that Jack Doohan could walk away from what was a big crash, which left us worried for a few seconds.

“Overall, we would have liked to have taken a bit more of a look at the behaviour of the tyres, but it’s the same for everyone, so we will now try to put together all of the information we have acquired to be prepared for Qualifying and the race.”

Mercedes

Russell was the standout driver for most of FP1, fastest on the mediums and the softs until he was pipped late on by Norris. Nonetheless, it was a confidence-building performance at a track that he said was one of the team’s worst last season. Antonelli locked up and ran onto the grass, but bar that had a decent opening. Russell was keen to get going after one of the red flags in FP2, overtaking his former team mate in the pit lane exit as he got his elbows out. But neither he nor Antonelli got a proper flying lap in on the softs in the second hour of practice.

George Russell - FP1: 1:28.712, P2; FP2: 1:28.567, P6

"Firstly, it’s good to see that Jack (Doohan) was OK after his accident. That was a very big crash and hopefully he’ll be able to get back out in the car tomorrow morning.

"From our side, we had a positive day. The car has been handling nicely, although we know the forecast wind change tomorrow will have an impact. McLaren once again looks very strong, and there were several other teams that were competitive on the single lap. It’s unusual to see so many teams so close together so we will have to be at our best to be competing near the front. If we do the job we know we can do though, I’m confident that we can be in the fight for the front two rows in Qualifying.

"Given the interrupted FP2, we still have a few unknowns heading into the race on Sunday. We were only able to complete four laps on the Hard tyre. We therefore have little data to work with in terms of degradation, and any possible graining, on that compound. There is also a threat of rain for race day which could make things interesting. The important thing for Friday though is that we were competitive on the timing screens and that gives us a good platform to build on."

Kimi Antonelli - FP1: 1:29.284, P9; FP2: 1:29.733, P16

"This is my first time at Suzuka and it’s an amazing track to drive! I enjoyed myself out there and I’m looking forward to building my confidence more and more as we head through the weekend. FP1 was a solid session for us, and I was able to put together some decent laps. FP2 was much more disrupted, and a little messy on my side. I wasn’t able to get a clean lap, and I didn’t get the most out of the car in sector one. We will work on that overnight, analyse the data, and come back stronger tomorrow.

"There are definitely promising signs for us. George did a good job all day and was consistently near the front of the field. The balance of the car also feels good, and I know there is more that I can extract from it. I’m looking forward to getting back out there in FP3 and using that to build positively into Qualifying."

Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director

"Today was a decent start to our Japanese Grand Prix weekend. We got a look at all three tyre compounds, evaluate the resurfaced first sector, and got a good read on the car balance. George was up to speed immediately and delivered some competitive lap times on the single lap in FP1 and had what looked like a solid long run. FP2 was a much more disrupted hour with four red flags so there wasn’t as much we could learn.

"For Kimi, this is his first time in Suzuka. It's a track that requires commitment and confidence and he's been steadily building both through the day. No doubt he'll be able to make another step tomorrow and fingers cross we'll have a clean session without so many red flags in FP3.

"The wind will turn through 180° for tomorrow which tends to have a big impact on the balance here, but we can assess that on the simulator overnight and look at any changes that are required to rebalance. Added to that, there is a risk of rain on Sunday. McLaren still look like the ones to beat but it's been an encouraging start to the weekend. Hopefully we'll be in a position to fight for the podium on Sunday."

Ferrari

The Ferrari boys looked quick in the opening practice session, as they matched each other lap by lap. But neither got a proper soft tyre run in due to the red flags in FP2. Hamilton did set a lap time, so he wound up a decent fourth with Leclerc a few places back. But with no longer runs, Ferrari remain a complete unknown heading into the weekend. Unproven over one lap and on race pace, Ferrari could surprise everyone tomorrow at a track they did okay at last season.

Charles Leclerc - FP1: 1:28.965, P3; FP2: 1:28.586, P7

"It was a constructive day, we tried many different set-ups throughout the practice sessions and I feel that I learned a lot about our car and how we can extract the most from it in the upcoming races. We didn’t put everything together, with multiple red flags and traffic interrupting FP2, but I think that our performance is better than it is on paper right now. It will be interesting to see how the change in conditions, in particular in terms of the wind direction, will affect tomorrow’s sessions."

Lewis Hamilton - FP1: 1:29.051, P4; FP2: 1:28.544, P4

"Overall it was a positive day. This is an incredible track and the first sector feels great – you can really push there, especially with the new surface. In FP1 the balance wasn’t as good as it could have been, but we made strong progress between sessions and I’m happy with the direction we took. There’s still some work to do overnight, and with the weather set to change, we’ll need to stay focussed – but we’re in a good position and I’m excited to see what we can do. It was amazing seeing so many of my fans in red, which I’m really grateful for and I hope I can bring them some good results this weekend!"

Red Bull

Tsunoda gave a good account of himself in his opening session as a Red bull driver, lapping around a tenth of a second back on his team mate and giving plenty of feedback to the team. Verstappen did complain about the feeling in the car, but other than that had a steady session. The second session was harder to call, with Tsunoda not managing to get a clean lap in on the softs thanks to multiple red flag stoppages. He’ll have to wait until tomorrow to show his true one-lap pace, so don’t read too much into his P18 finish in FP2.

Max Verstappen - FP1: 1:29.065, P5; FP2: 1:28.670, P8

“Of course, it was quite chaotic out there for everyone with the red flags so, like everyone else, we couldn’t complete what we wanted to do. This meant that today has been quite difficult for us as we were trying different things in the car and a lot of things weren’t clicking as much as we would have liked. It is quite difficult to put the lap down: you need quite a lot of confidence and commitment around here and, at the moment, I feel like I still have a bit of work to do. I was on the soft tyre, which requires a lot of management, and you can’t really push it so I only got about three laps at the end which wasn’t a great read. I think Yuki started off really well today even though FP1 and FP2 was very chaotic for everyone. Tomorrow in FP3 we can hopefully have a bit of a longer run but overall it hasn’t been an easy day."

Yuki Tsunoda - FP1: 1:29.172, P6; FP2: 1:30.625, P18

“I think we can say today was ok, but it could have been better. FP1 was better than FP2, I gained a lot more learnings. We didn’t set a lap time in FP2 due to the number of stops in the session, you could maybe call the session a shambles for everyone. Overall, it is ok and I am happy to have confidence in the car. The car feels a bit different to what I felt on the simulator, a bit more than I expected in terms of car feeling, it is a bit more exaggerated in the real car. We still have some work to do and we have a lot to explore in the data before tomorrow."

Racing Bulls

Hadjar had a solid opening session, running near the front in the early stages despite being on the hard tyre, and winding up in the top 10 on the softs too. Lawson was slightly further back, and the same held true between the two team mates in FP2. But this time they both moved up the order in a car that looks quick here. They did manage to set a representative time on the softs in FP2, with Hadjar a very impressive third, Lawson two places back. Whether they can maintain those places come tomorrow remains to be seen.

Isack Hadjar - FP1: 1:29.225, P8; FP2: 1:28.518, P3

“It was more than an encouraging Friday. I loved driving here today, and this car and track combo is definitely the best out there. It’s an impressive circuit to drive in a Formula One car, and it was something I was really looking forward since the start of the season, especially Sector 1 is really fast and satisfying. We had a good FP1 and FP2 and overall, it was an enjoyable day; it was the same in Australia and China, so we know what to work on. I felt good in the car and I think we’re on the right trajectory to get a nice result tomorrow, so we’ll give our best to qualify well.”

Liam Lawson - FP1: 1:29.536, P13; FP2: 1:28.559, P5

"It was a good day, it’s nice to be back, everyone’s been very very positive. I’ve spent a lot of time with this team, they’re a great bunch of people and it’s nice to feel welcomed back again. Also nice to be driving in Suzuka again, it’s a very cool track, with the resurfacing in sector one it’s even faster now; it just feels like it’s tearing your head off, which is quite exciting. All in all, a good day, but obviously tomorrow is the more important one. The car felt good, it does feel different, the window that the guys have at the moment is very very good, the car is pretty fast so far this season so hopefully we can replicate that tomorrow as well."

Alan Permane, Racing Director

“A good day for us. A little bit frustrating with all the red flags, but that's the same for everybody. We have a decent car here, it seems reasonably balanced. There's still some work to do and we’ve got places where we can go faster with some tweaks to the setup. We go into tomorrow a little bit underprepared in terms of high fuel running, but again that's the same for everybody. Liam has done a solid job in his first day back in the team, and the balance across the cars is very similar, so Isack and Liam are going to be able to help each other and improve both cars at the same time.”

Aston Martin

Alonso impressed in FP1, landing himself in the top 10 as he continues to get up to speed with this year’s Aston Martin. But his second session was less than ideal, as the Spaniard dipped a wheel on the grass and spun off into the gravel. He beached his car, which ended his session early and brought out the red flags but did give Alonso a chance to watch the action from a marshal’s chair. As for Stroll, the stop-start session did not enable the Canadian to set a representative lap time.

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Fernando Alonso - FP1: 1:29.222, P7; FP2: 1:29.978, P17

"It's always great to drive around Suzuka. It's a fantastic circuit with a great atmosphere thanks to the amazing fans.

"The new surface is better. It's very smooth in the first sector's high-speed corners. In FP2 I lost the car into Turn 8 and I ended up in the gravel. We'll have a look at what happened and let's see what we can do tomorrow in Qualifying."

Lance Stroll - FP1: 1:29.758, P16; FP2: 1:30.845, P19

"It's nice to be back in Suzuka. There wasn't too much running in FP2 due to multiple red flags, but we've been able to learn quite a lot and will analyse the data tonight. I'm looking forward to applying what we've learnt and getting back in the car tomorrow."

Williams

Both Albon and Sainz had moments in FP1, Albon locking up and running wide over the grass while Sainz skated off later in the session. Sainz also managed to miss the Williams pit crew at one point, sailing straight past them in the pit lane. The Spaniard missed some running early in FP2 after complaining about a lot of bouncing, but then the rest of the session was so disrupted that time lost didn’t cost him compared to his rivals. Williams look on the cusp of the top 10, but the true pecking order remains an unknown.

READ MORE: ‘It’s been quite a challenge’ – Sainz gives his honest reflections on first Williams outings

Alex Albon - FP1: 1:29.392, P11; FP2: 1:29.023, P11

"I think we need the sprinklers out! We maybe weren’t as quick as we wanted to be but today has been very disjointed. We know where we need to improve though, so we’ll do some tuning overnight. I’m feeling good in the car, I’m confident and I hope we can score some points this weekend."

Carlos Sainz - FP1: 1:29.333, P10; FP2: 1:28.832, P10

"An eventful Friday here in Suzuka. During FP1 we managed to test a few things on the car and do some good running. However, FP2 was very disrupted and I really couldn’t get a proper read of the things we wanted to try out, although it seemed we were working in the right direction. It’s going to be a hectic FP3 for everyone tomorrow, there’s a lot of things to try and the wind direction is going to change, so the cars may feel very different compared to today. I hope Jack is feeling well after his incident and tomorrow he can be back at it."

Alpine

Hirakawa gave a good account of himself when he ran in place of Doohan in FP1, even lapping faster than Gasly. But when Doohan stepped back into his cockpit for FP2, the Australian didn’t manage many laps before he spun off at high-speed. It was a big crash, Doohan gingerly walking away while his car looked like it would need a very big rebuild. He goes into the weekend with next to no track time, and will be relying on Gasly’s data when it comes to set-up.

WATCH: Doohan brings out the red flags after heavy FP2 crash in Japan

Pierre Gasly - FP1: 1:29.547, P14; FP2: 1:28.757, P9

“It is good to see that Jack is OK after his incident in Free Practice 2. Certainly, it was a heavy one and I am relieved to see he is fine after that. From our side, it was quite a busy day even with some of the stoppages and we managed to fit many things into our programme. We tried some different set-ups and the car is feeling good and we have something to work with for the rest of the weekend. Of course, more running would be beneficial but we’re all in the same position and we will focus on maximising what we have tomorrow. The midfield is close with only a few tenths between a number of cars. That’s what makes it exciting and we’ll give it our best shot tomorrow in Qualifying.”

Jack Doohan - FP2: 1:31.659, P20

“First of all, I am OK after the incident. It was a heavy one, something that caught me by surprise, and I will learn from it. I know the team has a lot of work ahead to repair the car going into tomorrow, so thanks in advance to them for their efforts. My focus is on tomorrow where we will have Free Practice 3 to get ready for Qualifying.”

Ayo Hirakawa - FP1: 1:29.394, P12

“It was a great experience to do Free Practice 1 at my home race in Suzuka. It’s a circuit I know very well so I felt quite confident to push straight away and really maximise the session and execute the team’s run plan. We completed everything we intended to do so and learnt some things which should benefit the team going forwards. The car felt quick, that was cool to experience, especially at this fantastic circuit and I’m very grateful to the team for this opportunity. Finally, I am glad to see Jack is OK after his crash.”

Oliver Oakes, Team Principal

“We are all relieved to see Jack walk away from his incident in Free Practice 2 and glad to see he is OK after his precautionary checks. It was a misjudgement of not closing the DRS into Turn 1. It is something to learn from and I know Jack and the team will be ready for tomorrow. His crew will work hard to have the car prepared after the damage. From a performance point of view today, there are some things for us to work on. Pierre had a good run in Free Practice 2, which bodes well for tomorrow, as did Ryo, who did a great job to run through the programme this morning. We tried some set-up options between cars and we have a good direction to go in ahead of Qualifying.”

Kick Sauber

The boys in green both managed quiet sessions, keeping out of trouble at Suzuka. Bortoleto took some time to get up to speed, while Hulkenberg used his considerable experience to gather plenty of data. The team opted to split their strategies in FP2, running the rookie on medium tyres and the German on the hards. But they could not gather as much data as they would have liked, thanks to four red flag stoppages.

Nico Hulkenberg - FP1: 1:30.023, P17; FP2: 1:29.062, P12

“I think Friday was okay. FP2 was obviously very limited – we didn’t deliver as many laps as planned because of the four red flags. But that’s the same for everyone, it means we have a limited amount of data and limited information, but the car felt okay and a bit better than in FP1. Obviously, it was difficult to retrieve a proper read and understand everyone’s performance this afternoon. We‘re analysing everything now to optimise the set-up for tomorrow.”

Gabriel Bortoleto - FP1: 1:30.147, P20; FP2: 1:29.335, P13

“Today has been a positive first day on track; I was really looking forward to driving in Suzuka, and I enjoyed every second of it. It’s possibly the most beautiful track I have ever been to. FP1 went smoothly and allowed us to go through our plan. FP2, on the other hand, has been pretty eventful, with several red flags. We didn’t manage to complete our programme for the session, but I doubt anyone did – still, we’re going to be working on the learnings from today as we are trying to extract as much as possible from the data we gathered ahead of tomorrow.”

Haas

Haas propped up the field for most of the first session, unable to extract much pace on either the medium or soft compound tyres. They did move forward in the second session though, although the timing sheets were jumbled by so many drivers being unable to set a time on the soft tyres. They will need to find some time overnight if they want to escape Q1 tomorrow, with the midfield looking tight yet again here in Suzuka.

Esteban Ocon – FP1: 1:30.123, P19; FP2: 1:29.507, P14

“It was a difficult session; it was interrupted by many red flags so we couldn’t complete the run program we wanted. It’s more difficult compared to China currently, we’re lacking a bit here and there, there are things we need to work on, and there are things we’ve tested across cars. We need to dig into it overnight and choose the best for us, it’s all on us to find more performance. I think we’ve made progress with the floor; I think it’s going in the right direction.”

Oliver Bearman - FP1: 1:30.077, P18; FP2: 1:29.654, P15

“FP2 was tough, not getting many laps in with such an interrupted session. The track is tough with this wind, so it was no surprise that things happened – it was very gusty and inconsistent. I felt pretty good out there, so I’m annoyed that I couldn’t do a proper lap and show what we could do. I had a decent feeling in the afternoon, this morning was a bit more difficult, but we made some changes and we’re making small steps. The new floor seemed okay – we haven’t got a full read on it yet – we have to look overnight to make sure it’s all correct, but so far there’s nothing that has caught us out by surprise which is good.”

Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal

“In FP1, in terms of the car balance window, we weren’t quite there but in terms of the issues we had in Melbourne, we didn’t see them. In FP2, we pushed the car a lot further, much closer to how we did in Shanghai and actually that gave us answers on the new floor which is pretty good – so it’s definitely better for the problem, and it was a good job done by the aero team and the design office to improve that. We improved the car balance as well, but with four red flags in FP2, it was a disrupted session so we didn’t complete the run program. I think especially on Ollie’s side, his car configuration is better, so we’ll look at the data and update Esteban’s floor to Ollie’s spec tonight, we just need to find a bit more performance.”

Pirelli

Simone Berra, Pirelli Chief Engineer

“In some respects, this was a difficult day to assess, because in the second session, no one was able to run with any continuity because of the four red flags. However, we were still able to draw some important conclusions. The first point is that the track proved to be significantly quicker than last year, considering that Piastri’s best time is already lower than the pole time from 2024. That’s down in part to the natural progression of the current generation of cars and also, significantly, to the increased grip from the new track surface, from the exit of the final chicane to the end of the first sector. In fact, over half the time improvement from last year to this one, can be attributed specifically to that first sector, based on FP1 times.

“Even though no one managed to do any long runs in the second session, we managed to gather some data from the first one, when several drivers did a long series of laps, split between different compounds. In general, apart from a few exceptions, we did not see any graining and it became clear that, on paper at least, all three compounds could have a role to play in the race. Furthermore, unlike in 2024, three quarters of the drivers opted not to save both sets of Hards.

“The level of degradation seen on the long runs today is lower than expected, which could suggest that a one-stop strategy might be more competitive than a two-stop, which theoretically was considered to be the quickest. We’ll see how the situation evolves, also taking into account the weather, as rain is forecast overnight from Saturday to Sunday.”