Oscar Piastri (AUS) McLaren MCL38. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 4, Japanese Grand Prix, Suzuka, Japan, Practice
Oscar Piastri (AUS) McLaren MCL38. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 4,…

2024 F1 Japanese Grand Prix - Final Practice - As it happened

A recap of what happened in final F1 practice for the Japanese Grand Prix.

Follow all of the action from final practice here with the Crash.net live blog. 

06 Apr 2024
04:34
A break now

Qualifying kicks off at 7pm BST.

Join us just before then for all of the build-up to qualifying where Red Bull are the heavy favourites. 

04:30
Chequered flag

Verstappen fastest in FP3 ahead of Perez and Russell.

04:25
Five minutes to go

Current top 10: Verstappen, Perez, Russell, Hamilton, Alonso, Norris, Piastri, Tsunoda, Albon and Bottas.

04:23
Verstappen radio

"The ride of the car is suddenly a lot worse."

04:21
Verstappen returns to P1

A strong lap to go fastest with a 1m29.563s, 0.3s ahead of Russell.

Hamilton improves but stays third overall.

04:20
Russell goes clear

A 1m29.918s for Russell puts him 0.147s ahead of Hamilton.

04:18
Albon up to sixth

Albon makes the most of his new soft tyres to slow into sixth overall, setting the fastest final sector in the process.

04:13
No fast times currently

Drivers still running on heavy fuel. But expect some qualifying simulations to come shortly with the final cars returning to the pit lane.

04:06
Magnussen's earlier spin
Kevin Magnussen (DEN) Haas VF-24 recovers from a spin. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 4, Japanese Grand Prix, Suzuka,
Kevin Magnussen (DEN) Haas VF-24 recovers from a spin. Formula 1 World…
04:02
Just under 30 minutes on the clock

Hamilton, Verstappen, Norris, Piastri, Perez, Leclerc, Tsunoda, Bottas, Alonso and Sainz is your top 10.

A lot of the teams are out there on heavier fuel currently after missing out on FP2 running due to the weather.

03:57
Ocon complaining of bouncing

"Look at the bouncing a little bit. It looks like it increased," he reports.

03:50
20 minutes gone

Hamilton, Verstappen, Norris, Piastri, Perez, Leclerc, Tsunoda, Bottas, Alonso and Sainz is the top 10. 

03:49
A spin for Ricciardo

He loses control of his RB at Turn 2 - but keeps it out of the barrier. 

03:44
More from Perez

"I'm struggling a lot in the low speed. The ride in the low speed is quite poor," he says.

Perez has shown good pace so far though - around 0.2s off Verstappen.

03:42
Current top 10

Hamilton, Verstappen, Perez, Leclerc, Bottas, Alonso, Sainz, Zhou, Tsunoda and Ricciardo.

03:41
Perez unhappy

A number of complaints from Perez over team radio.

"What the f*** again with the driveability. Have a look please," he tells Red Bull.

03:41
Ferraris improve

Leclerc improves his best time as he stays fourth in the lead Ferrari, 0.494s off the pace.

Sainz is sixth, 0.9s down on Hamilton.

03:38
Early times on the board

Hamilton currently leads the way on the softs with a 1m30.065s, 0.128s ahead of Verstappen - who set his time on the mediums.

Perez, Leclerc and Bottas complete the top five currently.

03:37
A spin for Magnussen

Magnussen locks up and runs wide at the hairpin, scampering across the gravel trap.

No damage done to his Haas as he continues. 

03:34
Alonso gets the new upgrades

An update from Aston Martin: "Following back to back comparison tests yesterday, the team has overnight fitted the latest updates to Fernando’s AMR24. Both cars will now run with the same spec from FP3."

03:32
On track at Suzuka
Kevin Magnussen (DEN) Haas VF-24. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 4, Japanese Grand Prix, Suzuka, Japan, Practice Day.-
Kevin Magnussen (DEN) Haas VF-24. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 4,…
03:30
FP3 is now underway

Final practice at Suzuka is underway and it's Max Verstappen who is first on track.

03:29
Welcome!

Good morning everyone and welcome to the Crash.net live blog for final practice at the Japanese Grand Prix.

FP3 is about to get underway... 

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