Mercedes teenager Kimi Antonelli posted the fastest lap of the final practice session for the 2026 FIA Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix, beating team-mate George Russell by a little over a quarter of a second. Charles Leclerc was third, though the Ferrari driver was more than eight tenths of a second off the pace set by Antonelli. 

It was Ferrari that led the way in the opening phases of the session, but Antonelli took command when he bolted on a set of Soft tyres and quickly delivered a lap of 1:30.418. He then improved to 1:29.929 to set the fastest time of the weekend so far. 

With Ferrari and McLaren not threatening to get near that time, Antonelli’s only real competition during the qualifying runs was team-mate Russell and the Australian Grand Prix winner narrowly gapped his Italian team-mate by a hundredth of a second as he too took on Soft tyres. 

Antonelli rose to that challenge and 18 minutes from the end of the session the youngster logged a lap of 1:29.392 to take top spot, 0.254s clear of Russell who had no response. 

Leclerc was the only driver to get within a second of the dominant Mercedes pair, though the Monegasque racer could only haul his Ferrari SF-26 to 0.867s off Antonelli.

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri was next on the list, just over a second off the pace, while Lewis Hamilton rounded out the top five in the second Ferrari. The seven-time champion ended the session just two hundredths of a second behind Piastri and 0.154s off team-mate Leclerc. 

World champion Lando Norris made a good recovery from another McLaren electric power issue to claim sixth place on the timesheet. The Briton lost time on Friday with a hydraulic issue and in FP3 his car needed to have its electric motor replaced. Norris eventually managed to get going, however, and posted a time of 1:30.600 to take P6, 1.238s off the pace. 

Nico Hülkenberg Audi was a surprise seventh for Audi with the German’s time of 1:30.658 putting him 0.252s clear of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. The Dutchman had endured a difficult Friday, and the issues appeared to continue into final practice as he once again complained of both understeer and oversteer at various points, as well as troublesome downshifts. 

Gabriel Bortoleto took P9 in the second Audi and the top 10 order was completed by Alpine’s Pierre Gasly who finished with a best time of 1:31.082, over 1.7s off the pace. 

2026 FIA Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix – Free Practice 3
1 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:29.362 18 233.938
2 George Russell Mercedes 1:29.616 0.254 18 233.275
3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:30.229 0.867 20 231.690
4 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:30.364 1.002 19 231.344
5 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:30.383 1.021 23 231.295
6 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:30.600 1.238 13 230.741
7 Nico Hülkenberg Audi 1:30.658 1.296 21 230.594
8 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Red Bull Ford 1:30.910 1.548 22 229.954
9 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi 1:31.000 1.638 21 229.727
10 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Mercedes 1:31.082 1.720 20 229.520
11 Isack Hadjar Red Bull/Red Bull Ford 1:31.094 1.732 21 229.490
12 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls/Red Bull Ford 1:31.097 1.735 21 229.482
13 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls/Red Bull Ford 1:31.288 1.926 17 229.002
14 Esteban Ocon Haas/Ferrari 1:31.326 1.964 22 228.907
15 Oliver Bearman Haas/Ferrari 1:31.558 2.196 18 228.327
16 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:31.733 2.371 20 227.891
17 Franco Colapinto Alpine/Mercedes 1:31.759 2.397 25 227.827
18 Carlos Sainz Williams/Mercedes 1:31.829 2.467 26 227.653
19 Valtteri Bottas Cadillac/Ferrari 1:32.503 3.141 20 225.994
20 Sergio Pérez Cadillac/Ferrari 1:32.540 3.178 18 225.904
21 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Honda 1:33.485 4.123 19 223.620
22 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Honda 1:33.529 4.167 14 223.51