Mercedes’ George Russell set the pace early at the F1 Japanese Grand Prix, leading the field by a narrow margin.
Russell topped the timesheets with a 1:31.666, beating team-mate Kimi Antonelli, who was just 0.026s behind with a 1:31.692 to secure second place. Reigning World Champion Lando Norris was close behind in third with a 1:31.798. In just the first session of the weekend, the top three were separated by over a tenth of a second.
View the full classification below!
| Position | Driver | Team | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | George Russell | Mercedes | 1:31.666 | |
| 2. | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | +0.026 | |
| 3. | Lando Norris | McLaren | +0.132 | |
| 4. | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | +0.199 | |
| 5. | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | +0.289 | |
| 6 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | +0.374 | |
| 7. | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | +0.791 | |
| 8. | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | +0.863 | |
| 9. | Esteban Ocon | Haas | +0.935 | |
| 10. | Arvid Lindblad | Racing Bulls | +0.999 | |
| 11. | Gabriel Bortoleto | Audi | +1.093 | |
| 12. | Nico Hulkenberg | Audi | +1.132 | |
| 13. | Isack Hadjar | Red Bull | +1.137 | |
| 14. | Ollie Bearman | Haas | +1.234 | |
| 15. | Pierre Gasly | Alipne | +1.312 | |
| 16. | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | +1.695 | |
| 17. | Carlos Sainz | Williams | +1.717 | |
| 18. | Alex Albon | Williams | +2.031 | |
| 19. | Sergio Perez | Cadillac | +2.555 | |
| 20. | Valtteri Bottas | Cadillac | +2.824 | |
| 21. | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | +3.628 | |
| 22. | Jak Crawford | Aston Martin | +4.696 |