Russell continues Mercedes dominance as Ferrari, Red Bull trail in Japan

The first session of on-track running at the Suzuka circuit kicked off with George Russell topping the timing sheet. The Mercedes driver clocked a lap time of 1:33.312, taking an early seven-tenth lead ahead of Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen.

More drivers continued to hit the track, and changes were reflected on the timing sheet, with Charles Leclerc in his Ferrari storming to second place and Verstappen moving a spot ahead of Piastri.

What followed was a session of constant lead changes between Leclerc, Russell, and Kimi Antonelli, with Leclerc just edging the Mercedes duo by under a tenth of a second.

Meanwhile, the lead atop the timing sheet continued to shift. McLaren faced teething issues, with Lando Norris stuck in the garage after completing only one lap for much of the first half of the free practice session.

The reigning world champion soon returned to the track, but had a brief moment where he locked up his tyres. Norris’ incident was followed by Alex Albon, who also went off track briefly. Additionally, Cadillac’s Sergio Perez experienced a moment where he impeded Russell, who was far from pleased with the move by the veteran Mexican.

Teams soon switched back to hard tyres, with long-run simulations dominating the final running of the session.

Perez will again be involved in an incident with Albon, with the pair making contact in the corners. Amid the endless on-track action and impeding moments, it was Russell who clocked the quickest time of 1:31.666, ahead of Antonelli, to top the session in Suzuka.

Norris overcame his early woes to claim third place, ahead of Piastri. Leclerc finished fifth ahead of Hamilton. Verstappen seventh, ahead of Lawson. Esteban Ocon and Arvid Lindblad completed the top ten from the early running in Suzuka.

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