The 2026 Formula 1 season will continue at Suzuka for the Japanese Grand Prix, which marks the third stop on the calendar.
Mercedes returns to Suzuka off the back of a dominant start to the 2026 season, with the Silver Arrows claiming pole and victories at the Australian and Chinese Grands Prix.
George Russell leads the championship from Mercedes team-mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who scored a maiden pole and victory last time out in China.
Ferrari will hope to close the gap as it continued its trend as Mercedes' closest challenger in China, with Lewis Hamilton taking a maiden podium for the Scuderia last time out after a thrilling duel with team-mate Charles Leclerc.
Ahead of this weekend's Japanese Grand Prix, the FIA announced that it had reduced the energy harvesting limit from 9MJ to 8MJ, in a bid to combat energy management fears some had expressed coming to Suzuka.
The hope is that this will reduce the amount of superclipping seen during qualifying laps at Suzuka, with some drivers highlighting in China that the new cars could peg back the speed of some corners like 130R.
McLaren will be looking to get its season back on track at Suzuka, after suffering a double non-start in China due to a battery issue related to the Mercedes power unit.
Red Bull will also be hoping for better fortunes in Japan, after it struggled throughout the China weekend, while Max Verstappen retired due to a mechanical issue.
Verstappen grabbed headlines on Thursday at Suzuka after he refused to begin his media debrief until one journalist was ejected, over bitter feelings about questions over his clash with Russell in Spain last year.
The Dutchman also comes to Japan off the back of being disqualified from a victory in the NLS2 at the Nurburgring.
Fernando Alonso will sit out FP1 at Suzuka on Friday morning, with Jak Crawford taking his place at Aston Martin. The Spaniard was absent from Thursday's media day owing to the birth of his first child.
2026 Japanese Grand Prix Friday schedule
FP1 - 2:30am-3:30am GMT
FP2 - 6am-7am GMT
That brings our coverage of Friday practice at the 2026 Japanese Grand Prix to an end.
Thank you for joining us and we hope you will be back bright and early tomorrow morning (02:30am UK time to be precise) for final practice.
Qualifying follows at 06:00 UK time. See you then!
McLaren may have outpaced current F1 benchmark Mercedes to top the timesheet on Friday at the Japanese Grand Prix, but is it really the fastest team?
Our F1 editor Lewis Larkam has crunched the numbers after two hours of practice running at Suzuka...
ON TOP BUT IS MCLAREN REALLY FASTEST AFTER EARLY SUZUKA PROMISE?
Mercedes driver George Russell has admitted he was surprised by the pace of McLaren during Friday practice at the Japanese Grand Prix.
Here's what the early 2026 championship leader had to say 👇
WHAT CAUGHT GEORGE RUSSELL BY SURPRISE IN FRIDAY PRACTICE
Two-time Formula 1 world champion Fernando Alonso says he is “super happy” after revealing that he has become a father for the first time.
Read more here ⬇️
ALONSO 'SUPER HAPPY' AS HE SHARES HEARTWARMING PERSONAL NEWS
Ferrari chairman John Elkann has admitted that the Maranello outfit underperformed in 2025 in an open letter to stakeholders.
Here's everything he said 👇
WHAT JOHN ELKANN SAID ABOUT FERRARI IN RARE OPEN LETTER
Lewis Hamilton has conceded Ferrari is lagging behind its F1 rivals at the Japanese Grand Prix.
Read more from the seven-time world champion below ⬇️
HAMILTON PINPOINTS WHERE FERRARI IS "JUST NOT QUICK ENOUGH"
Max Verstappen has explained the "big problems" facing Red Bull after a challenging Friday at the Japanese Grand Prix.
The four-time world champion ended up 10th and more than a second off the pace in second practice at Suzuka.
Read more here 👇
VERSTAPPEN ADMITS RED BULL HAS 'BIG PROBLEMS' WITH "NO EASY FIX"
Lando Norris was left frustrated by a “terrible” Friday at the Japanese Grand Prix, with reliability issues limiting his running in both free practice sessions.
Read more below⬇️
Aston Martin Formula 1 ambassador Pedro de la Rosa says Jonathan Wheatley is not joining the team “for the time being” in what marks a first public acknowledgment of the growing speculation.
Read more below ⬇️
ASTON MARTIN'S UNCONVINCING RESPONSE TO GROWING WHEATLEY RUMOURS
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri outpaced the Mercedes pair of Kimi Antonelli and George Russell in second practice at Formula 1’s Japanese Grand Prix.
Lap times tumbled in the second hour of practice running at Suzuka, with Piastri putting McLaren top of the timesheet for the first time after pipping Antonelli, who claimed his maiden F1 victory last time out in China, by 0.092 seconds.
Read our full report here ⬇️
PIASTRI HEADS MERCEDES AS ISSUES HIT NORRIS IN JAPAN PRACTICE
| 2026 F1 Japanese GP - Practice Results (2) | |||||
| Pos | Driver | Nat. | Team | Time | Laps |
| 1 | Oscar Piastri | AUS | McLaren Mastercard F1 Team | 1m30.133s | 29 |
| 2 | Kimi Antonelli | ITA | Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team | 1m30.225s | 27 |
| 3 | George Russell | GBR | Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team | 1m30.338s | 29 |
| 4 | Lando Norris | GBR | McLaren Mastercard F1 Team | 1m30.649s | 17 |
| 5 | Charles Leclerc | MON | Scuderia Ferrari HP | 1m30.846s | 28 |
| 6 | Lewis Hamilton | GBR | Scuderia Ferrari HP | 1m30.980s | 27 |
| 7 | Nico Hulkenberg | GER | Audi Revolut F1 Team | 1m31.441s | 27 |
| 8 | Alex Albon | THA | Atlassian Williams F1 Team | 1m31.496s | 30 |
| 9 | Oliver Bearman | GBR | TGR Haas F1 Team | 1m31.498s | 27 |
| 10 | Max Verstappen | NED | Oracle Red Bull Racing | 1m31.509s | 29 |
| 11 | Esteban Ocon | FRA | TGR Haas F1 Team | 1m31.532s | 29 |
| 12 | Liam Lawson | NWZ | Visa Cash App Racing Bulls F1 Team | 1m31.590s | 31 |
| 13 | Carlos Sainz | SPA | Atlassian Williams F1 Team | 1m31.608s | 30 |
| 14 | Pierre Gasly | FRA | BWT Alpine F1 Team | 1m31.734s | 29 |
| 15 | Isack Hadjar | FRA | Oracle Red Bull Racing | 1m31.759s | 29 |
| 16 | Gabriel Bortoleto | BRA | Audi Revolut F1 Team | 1m31.933s | 11 |
| 17 | Franco Colapinto | ARG | BWT Alpine F1 Team | 1m32.438s | 28 |
| 18 | Valtteri Bottas | FIN | Cadillac F1 Team | 1m32.615s | 28 |
| 19 | Fernando Alonso | SPA | Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team | 1m33.596s | 24 |
| 20 | Sergio Perez | MEX | Cadillac F1 Team | 1m33.689s | 14 |
| 21 | Lance Stroll | CAN | Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team | 1m33.951s | 21 |
| 22 | Arvid Lindblad | GBR | Visa Cash App Racing Bulls F1 Team | No time set | 1 |
The flag falls on Friday at the Japanese Grand Prix, and Piastri is the fastest driver of the day. A sign of things to come this weekend?
As we prepare for the flag, Williams will be pleased with its session, with Albon P8 and in the mix to be best of the rest, a position currently held by Hulkenberg's Audi. Red Bull will be less than happy, with Verstappen P10 and inside the Q3 margin by just 0.023s. In the sister car, Hadjar is P15.
We stand corrected on Bortoleto. He simply toured the pits and then completed a practice start. He's on a timed effort now.
Bortoleto is back out again, so it possibly wasn't anything serious, but we'll keep a close eye on his progress.
A qualifying sim for Norris and he goes fourth, 0.516s behind team-mate Piastri, who appears to have the advantage at McLaren this weekend.
Those celebrations from Audi have been short-lived as he suddenly slows and looks to be heading straight back into the garage.
More good news. With 10 minutes to go, Audi has completed the repairs to Bortoleto's car, and he is on the track. Soft tyres instantly, but this likely won't be in the mix with Hulkenberg, given his time in the garage.
Back to the pits again for Norris after a heavy lock-up into the final chicane. That tyre set will be in the bin now, and he will likely fit some soft tyres for a belated quali sim.
With 20 minutes remaining:
Hamilton's on a strong lap here, with purple and green microsectors, especially through sector two. It's a personal best overall, but he remains P5 and 0.847s off Piastri.
With his first timed effort, Norris goes to P6 on mediums. Not a bad start to his session.
Red Bulls troubles are further deepened as Bearman finds some pace and moves ahead of Verstappen to P9.
Complaining of understeer, Verstappen has returned to the pits. He's P9 currently with Hadjar P13. Not good.
Sneaking up in the top 10 is Hulkenberg, who has put his Audi into P7, ahead of Verstappen's Red Bull. Albon and Sainz are also impressing in P6 and P10 for Williams, but it would be somewhat of a surprise if they were to stay there.
Another quick look at Norris's McLaren and he's back out on the track. Possibly, that initial tour was no more than an installation lap, but he will want to gather some data now and set some times on the board.