Formula 1 returned after a small hiatus to kick start its first triple header of the year. Lando Norris was quickest in the first practice session for the 2025 Japanese Grand Prix – but it wasn’t all smooth sailing for the Papaya outfit. Here’s everything that you need to know.
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Opening Remarks
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen led the way with the quickest time for the first practice session in Japan. The defending World Champion is carrying a special white Honda tribute livery this weekend, as is his new teammate, Yuki Tsunoda.
However, Max’s time at the top of the timesheets didn’t last long. George Russell took P1 away from Verstappen just under fifteen minutes into the session.
There is a brand new track surface that has been laid down at the Suzuka International Racing Course. It has already been helping the cars to go even quicker than before. Drivers were keen to see what impact this would have on the tyres with a mix of soft, medium and hard tyres across the grid throughout this session from the get go.
Isack Hadjar and Alex Albon crept into the top five with just over 30 minutes to go in the session.
McLaren on the Backfoot?
McLaren looked off the pace for a lot of the first practice session for the 2025 Japanese Grand Prix. The Woking outfit still believe that there is much more to be learned from the car. This was evident with the appearance of more flow vis on Norris’ car. Time will tell what they learnt here.
For much of the session, Norris struggled in the final part of the circuit. Much like when T14 repeatedly caught him out in China, Norris kept flicking the car loose out of T16 and into T17 here in Japan. The Championship leader consistently went onto the kerbs and on the third occasion, got the rear end of the car out onto the dirt.
Things seemed to come together towards the end of the session though. Norris went a tenth quicker than Russell on a brand new set of soft tyres with under 20 minutes left on the clock. He remained there for the remainder of the session, taking first blood in Japan.
His teammate, Chinese Grand Prix winner Oscar Piastri, could only manage a best finish of P15.
(Re)Learning the Track
Carlos Sainz completely forgot which end of the pitlane Williams were in when he came in for a pitstop. As a result, the Spaniard had to go back out onto the circuit before coming in again and successfully pitting in the right location.
The other Williams of Albon locked up later on and went off briefly at T11. Aside from these errors, Williams had a pretty consistent session that saw them in P10 and P11 by the time the chequered flag was waved.
The Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli was the other driver who went for a short excursion off track. He too went off at T11, locking up his front left tyre with under three minutes to go in the session. But the young Italian got back on track in no time at all and kept going.
Final Observations
In spite of their woes, including a debate on tyre graining, McLaren and Lando Norris led the way in the opening session in Suzuka. Russell finished in P2 with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in P3. His teammate, Lewis Hamilton was in P4 – in what was a quiet but solid session for the Italian team. Max Verstappen rounded out the top five with Yuki Tsunoda behind him in sixth in his debut for Red Bull.
Alonso finished in P7, with Hadjar in P8, Antonelli in P9 and Sainz in P10. Another driver worth of note was Rio Hirakawa who stood in for Jack Doohan at Alpine. The Le Mans Winner and World Endurance Champion finished in a respectable P12, ahead of Gasly in P14.
Liam Lawson finished his first session back with Racing Bulls in P13. At the back of the grid, Stake and Haas battled it out for the last remaining positions. Bortoleto would end the session at the bottom of the pack.
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Feature Image Credit: Red Bull Content Pool