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Right from the first free practice session of the Japanese Grand Prix, Mercedes made a strong impression by securing a one-two finish, with George Russell in the lead. Behind them, McLaren confirmed its improving form, while some teams, such as Alpine, already appeared to be struggling on the demanding track.
At the Suzuka circuit, known for revealing the true capabilities of the cars, the pecking order quickly took shape. George Russell took the lead in FP1 thanks to a fast lap on soft tires, narrowly edging out his teammate Kimi Antonelli to give Mercedes an encouraging 1-2 finish. This performance confirms the German team's strength early in the weekend.
Behind the Silver Arrows, McLaren has established itself as the main rival. Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri settled into the front ranks, staying close to the leaders. Ferrari follows in the leading group, while Red Bull appears slightly behind, with Max Verstappen not featuring among the very top positions in this opening session.
A generally calm session, with a few notable incidents
The session took place under generally calm conditions, with few major interruptions. However, a few incidents livened up the first hour. Alexander Albon first drove straight into the gravel before grazing the wall without serious damage to his Williams. The Thai driver was then involved in a collision with Sergio Pérez at the chicane, the result of a misunderstanding, leaving carbon debris on the track.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">⏪ Rewind to Albon finding the gravel and tapping the barriers at Degner 2<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/F1?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#F1</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/JapaneseGP?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#JapaneseGP</a> <a href="https://t.co/RzxKR5uOPj">pic.twitter.com/RzxKR5uOPj</a></p>— Formula 1 (@F1) <a href="https://twitter.com/F1/status/2037368367967818208?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 27, 2026</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
In other notable news, Fernando Alonso, back in the paddock after missing Thursday's session, was not on the track. As expected, he left his Aston Martin to reserve driver Jak Crawford for this session.
Alpine Lags Behind, Ocon Saves Face
On the French side, the results are mixed. Esteban Ocon managed to break into the top 10, while Alpine appears to be lagging behind in terms of pace—a concerning trend on a circuit as revealing as Suzuka.
These initial findings will need to be confirmed in the coming sessions, but Mercedes already seems to have taken the lead, though the competition is tight behind them. Suzuka could thus be in for a particularly hard-fought weekend.
