Formula 1 News: Russell leads Mercedes 1-2 in Practice 1 for Japanese GP

The Mercedes Formula 1 team picked up where it left off, locking out the top two spots in opening practice for the 2026 Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka. George Russell (Pictured in the No. 63) set the pace with a lap of 1m31.666s, narrowly beating teammate Kimi Antonelli (No. 12) by just 0.026 seconds.

–by Mark Cipolloni–

Lando Norris (No. 1) and Oscar Piastri (No. 81) took third and fourth for McLaren, 0.132s and 0.199s off Russell’s time. The papaya squad will be eager to get its season back on track here after a double non-start in China due to a battery problem tied to the Mercedes power unit.

Charles Leclerc (No. 16) and Lewis Hamilton (No. 44) placed fifth and sixth for Ferrari, 0.289s and 0.374s behind the Mercedes cars.

Max Verstappen (No. 3) could manage only seventh in the overweight Red Bull RB22, 0.791s adrift. The four-time Japanese GP winner has been struggling with a car that looks more like a sled than a race-winner this season.

The session’s sole incident came when Williams’ Alex Albon (No. 23) was on a push lap and tried to dive inside Cadillac’s Sergio Pérez (No. 11) at the chicane. Pérez appeared not to see him and turned in, sparking contact that scattered carbon fiber across the track.

Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson (No. 30) finished eighth. Esteban Ocon (No. 31, Haas) and rookie Arvid Lindblad (No. 41, Racing Bulls) rounded out the top 10, with the Audi pair of Gabriel Bortoleto (No. 5) and Nico Hülkenberg (No. 27) taking 11th and 12th.

Lindblad, who impressed in Australia but struggled with reliability issues in China, bounced back strongly here. He finished inside the top 10 and ran his more experienced teammate Lawson close.

Note: The cars are losing on average 50kph of speed between the entry of the 130r and the entry of the final chicane due to superclipping at Suzuka.

The drivers have no battery left for almost the whole third sector, having to downshift from 8th to 7th gear at full throttle. Welcome to the Frankenstein Car era of Formula 1.

Lewis Hamilton has been summoned to the stewards for an incident with Max Verstappen

2026 Japanese GP Practice 1 Results