Mercedes continue F1 domination as Red Bull alarm rings in Japan practice

George Russell led a strong Mercedes one-two in the opening practice session for the Japanese Grand Prix, as a major Red Bull alarm sounded.

The world championship leader never strayed far from the top of the times through the first of three one-hour sessions at Suzuka, eventually topping the times on a 1:31.666 on the soft Pirelli tyres. 

This was just 0.026s faster than team-mate and Chinese GP winner Kimi Antonelli, with the two trading times in their soft tyre runs before Russell's effort earned him the early bragging rights in the Mercedes garage.

Their closest competitor was Lando Norris of McLaren in third place, 0.132s down as Max Verstappen and Red Bull were at best, 0.745s off the pace, despite a hefty upgrade package fitted to his RB22. 

The article continues below.

Beginning with a virtual safety car test, the leading teams began FP1 on a mix of tyre strategies, with the Mercedes cars on mediums along with the McLarens, whilst both Ferraris were equipped with hard rubber.

It was Charles Leclerc of Ferrari who led at the quarter-distance mark on a 1:32.260 lap, 0.013s faster than Russell, with Antonelli 0.04s behind the Monegasque.

Shortly afterwards, both Mercedes switched to the soft tyres for a qualifying simulation run, with Verstappen also following suit at the same time. 

Russell initially shaved half-a-second off his best time to post a 1:31.755, with Antonelli suffering a lock-up at the hairpin and losing two-tenths to his team-mate.

Verstappen, meanwhile, having run the soft tyres at a similar time in track conditions, was 0.765s slower than Russell. 

Antonelli improved to a 1:31.692, before Russell then lowered his time again to a 1:31.666s which stood as the session best, 0.026s ahead of the Italian in the sister car.

Norris finished third, 0.132s down on Russell after a late start to his session, with Oscar Piastri fourth ahead of both Ferraris of Leclerc and Hamilton in fifth and sixth, but both within 0.4s. 

Verstappen was seventh. 

Four drivers were placed under investigation by the stewards for incidents, with Carlos Sainz and Liam Lawson involved in a bizarre driving slowly incident at the exit of the hairpin, whilst Alex Albon crashed into Sergio Perez at the final chicane in the closing moments of the session. 

Jak Crawford, deputising for Fernando Alonso, was 22nd and slowest of all, completing only 11 laps.