2026 Japanese GP: Antonelli tops Friday Practice

Friday’s practice sessions passed unexpectedly calmly — there were no crashes and no incidents like last year’s fires.

However, that doesn’t mean there were no problems — almost every team faced certain difficulties.

At McLaren, the issues affected the reigning champion Lando Norris. He lost a significant amount of time on Friday and was unable to head out immediately on Saturday morning, as his car required a battery change. The brand-new battery installed on Friday failed due to a software issue. As a result, Norris has already used the third of his three allowed batteries for the season.

Drivers began the session with long runs on Medium and Soft tyres, then gradually switched to Soft compounds to focus on qualifying preparation — a strong starting position is crucial at Suzuka Circuit.

Sergio Pérez locked up before the final chicane and ran into the gravel but was able to continue. Oscar Piastri impeded Nico Hülkenberg while warming up his tyres — the stewards reviewed the incident and issued a warning to Piastri.

Oliver Bearman spun at the exit of Turn 14. He returned to the pits for checks before heading back out. Liam Lawson and Charles Leclerc also ran off track, though without damage.

Kimi Antonelli, the previous race winner, set the fastest time of the session with a lap of 1:29.362.