Antonelli leads Mercedes 1-2 in Practice 3 for F1 Japanese GP

The Mercedes Formula 1 teammates buried the competition in final practice for the 2026 Japanese GP Formula 1 race at Suzuka. Kimi Antonelli (pictured) turned a lap of 1m29.362s to top his teammate George Russell by 0.254s. No one else was close.

–by Mark Cipolloni–

Charles Leclerc in the #16 Ferrari was the best of the rest, 0.867s behind Antonelli.

Fastest in Practice 2, Oscar Piastri was 4th fastest today, 1.002s behind Antonelli.

Rounding out the top-5 was Lewis Hamilton in the #44 Ferrari, 1.021s behind.

Lando Norris was 6th for McLaren, ahead of the rapidly improving Audi of Nico Hulkenberg. Max Verstappen in the Red Bulld sled, Gabriel Bortoleto and Pierre Gasly rounded out the top-10.

Audi managed to get both cars into the top 10 there, an impressive effort considering they lost some track time with reliability woes yesterday.

Max Verstappen won the pole and race here the last four years, but the Red Bull RB22 is so bad this year, he is completely out to lunch and has zero hope. Pierre Wache and his design team have designed an absolute disaster.

2026 Japanese GP Practice 3 Results

Pos	Driver	Team	Time	Behind
1	Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	1m29.362	+0.000s
2	George Russell	Mercedes	1m29.616	+0.254
3	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1m30.229	+0.867
4	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	1m30.364	+1.002
5	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	1m30.383	+1.021
6	Lando Norris	McLaren	1m30.600	+1.238
7	Nico Hulkenberg	Audi	1m30.658	+1.296
8	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	1m30.910	+1.548
9	Gabriel Bortoleto	Audi	1m31.000	+1.638
10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	1m31.082	+1.720
11	Isack Hadjar	Red Bull	1m31.094	+1.732
12	Liam Lawson	Racing Bulls	1m31.097	+1.735
13	Arvid Lindblad	Racing Bulls	1m31.288	+1.926
14	Esteban Ocon	Haas	1m31.326	+1.964
15	Oliver Bearman	Haas	1m31.558	+2.196
16	Alexander Albon	Williams	1m31.733	+2.371
17	Franco Colapinto	Alpine	1m31.759	+2.397
18	Carlos Sainz	Williams	1m31.829	+2.467
19	Valtteri Bottas	Cadillac	1m32.503	+3.141
20	Sergio Pérez	Cadillac	1m32.540	+3.178
21	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	1m33.485	+4.123
22	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	1m33.529	+4.167