Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri delivered another reminder of their superiority over their rivals in practice on Friday ahead of this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix.
But despite their impressive showing on the timesheets, both McLaren drivers admitted it was far from a breeze on a gusty, chaotic day at Suzuka.
Norris went fastest in first practice before Piastri managed to piece together the best lap of the field during a heavily disrupted second session of the day.
In fact, the red flag was shown four times during the second, hour-long period of running. First after Jack Doohan’s horrifying 185mph crash – from which he walked away unscathed – then when Fernando Alonso beached his car and finally after dry, grassy areas around the track caught light on two occasions.
While the lack of track action in the second session made it difficult to assess where the teams are truly at, Norris left the paddock last night encouraged by his efforts.
‘We are in a good position,’ he told Sky Sports. ‘It’s tricky because of the wind, it makes a big difference especially on a circuit like this. You are on such a fine limit for a long time. The tiniest bit of wind can upset the car a lot.
Lando Norris (left) and Oscar Piastri (right) delivered another reminder of their superiority over their rivals in practice on Friday
Lando Norris went fastest in the first practice session on Friday at Suzuka ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix
Lewis Hamilton is unlikely to be one of those pushing Norris and McLaren at this weekend’s race
‘I still feel good, I feel like we are in a reasonable place. We have made some steps forward but still some things to try and improve for tomorrow.
‘I still expect it to be close and a close battle tomorrow. I hope it’s not. I hope it’s nice and easy but I’m sure Mercedes at least, definitely George (Russell) from today’s showings, will be challenging us tomorrow.’
Lewis Hamilton is unlikely to be one of those pushing Norris and McLaren at this weekend’s race. But despite conceding his Ferrari was not one of the quickest cars around this iconic circuit, Hamilton was enthused by his performance.
‘It’s been a really nice day. This track is awesome,’ said the seven-time world champion.
‘The sessions went well. A bit worrying to see the crash at Turn 1, glad to see he (Doohan) is OK.
‘We got through all the programme, we got some performance we need to pick up. We are not the quickest at the moment but I think it’s a good baseline.’