FP3 in Japan: Can Mercedes and Ferrari challenge McLaren?

Yuki Tsunoda has run his first meters for Red Bull, and he has not dissapointed as he's been able to be close to teammate Max Verstappen since FP1. However the RB21 is still experiencing a performance gap to the teams in front, as Ferrari and Mercedes seem to have a better handle on their F1 cars.

Nevertheless, McLaren are still looking like the team to beat. After a scruffy FP1 Lando Norris managed to take P1 in the last 20 minutes of the session the first chance he got at putting a competitive lap time on the board. The Briton was then led home by teammate Oscar Piastri as the pair completed yet another 1-2 for the Woking-based team in FP2.

For Red Bull the issues seem to be piling on with Helmut Marko complaining of correlation issues, and Verstappen reporting that nothing seems to click.

Sister team, Racing Bulls managed to pip both Red Bull drivers, as the Italian team's young driver pairing, Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson finished in P3 and P5 respectively, ahead of the Dutchman in P8 and Tsunoda languishing at the bottom of the order, as he failed to put a competitive lap time on the board due to the myriad of red flags that marked the session.

For Ferrari and Mercedes, both teams are confident that a good result is in the cards, as differences between them in McLaren while tangible do not seem to be overwhelming. Can they find that last tenth they're missing to get themselves in the fight?

It is time for teams and drivers to do their utmost to find the right setup for the Japanese track as qualifying and the Grand Prix await them!