Norris fastest in final practice of Japan GP despite grass fires
5th April 2025McLaren’s Lando Norris has claimed the fastest lap of the final practice hour ahead of the Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix, despite the circuit catching fire.
Feature image credit: McLaren Racing
McLaren has been dominant this weekend, and the final hour didn’t change this fact as Norris topped the timing boards in a red-flag impacted session.
Although no one crashed, there were two red-flag stops thanks to grass fires across the circuit at the beginning and end of the session, bringing it to a premature end.
However, the competitors still managed to get a decent amount of running in across the final 60 minutes.
So, who finished where in FP3?
Norris was the fastest driver in the final hour of practice with a lap time of 1m 27.965s, which stood 0.026s faster than his teammate Oscar Piastri, and 0.112s faster than Mercedes’ third-placed George Russell.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton occupied fourth and sixth, respectively, which allowed Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to sandwich himself in between the two Ferrari cars, in fifth.
Alexander Albon (Williams), Pierre Gasly (Alpine), Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull) and Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls) completed the top 10 in seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th.
Carlos Sainz, of Williams, led the bottom 10 in 11th ahead of Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) and Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes), who occupied 12th and 13th. Alpine’s Jack Doohan managed to complete his first hour of the weekend in 14th, ahead of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso in 15th.
The Haas duo of Oliver Bearman and Esteban Ocon finished the day in 16th and 18th, respectively, as the Kick Sauber duo, Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg, finished 17th and 20th. This left Lance Stroll, of Aston Martin, to sandwich himself in amongst the Haas and Sauber cars, in 19th of the classification.
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Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
