A busy final hour of practice for the Japanese Grand Prix ended with Nico Rosberg leading a one-two for Mercedes.
With all of yesterday’s running having been disrupted by rain, teams had to condense four hours of running into a single hour on Saturday morning. Although the track had dried out, the surface lacked grip and many drivers complained about problems with understeer.
Six cars queued up at the pit lane exit ready for the first dry weather running of the weekend, and there was little let-up in the action once the session began.
Daniel Ricciardo led the early running and ended the session best of the rest behind the Mercedes. Team mate Daniil Kvyat ran wide at Degner Two during one of his flying efforts, scattering the gravel in his Red Bull.
Williams got both its drivers into the top five and within a second of Mercedes, but Ferrari were off the pace: both Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel over a second off Rosberg’s mark.
The two red cars were split by Max Verstappen, who looked quick from the beginning of the session but complained on more than one occasion about how quickly his tyres were going off.
Jenson Button, 12th, was the quicker of the two McLarens but continued to report sever understeer in his car. Team mate Fernando Alonso was just two-tenths of a second off after running wide at Spoon during one of his laps.
Third practice visual gaps
Nico Rosberg – 1’33.995
+0.297 Lewis Hamilton – 1’34.292
+0.502 Daniel Ricciardo – 1’34.497
+0.802 Valtteri Bottas – 1’34.797
+0.939 Felipe Massa – 1’34.934
+1.087 Kimi Raikkonen – 1’35.082
+1.165 Max Verstappen – 1’35.160
+1.227 Sebastian Vettel – 1’35.222
+1.607 Romain Grosjean – 1’35.602
+1.968 Carlos Sainz Jnr – 1’35.963
+2.115 Nico Hulkenberg – 1’36.110
+2.204 Marcus Ericsson – 1’36.199
+2.299 Daniil Kvyat – 1’36.294
+2.312 Pastor Maldonado – 1’36.307
+2.365 Fernando Alonso – 1’36.360
+2.435 Sergio Perez – 1’36.430
+2.924 Felipe Nasr – 1’36.919
+5.658 Will Stevens – 1’39.653
+5.824 Alexander Rossi – 1’39.819
Combined practice times
| Pos | Driver | Car | FP1 | FP2 | FP3 | Fri/Sat diff | Total laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1’50.077 | 1’48.300 | 1’33.995 | -14.305 | 41 |
| 2 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’50.722 | 1’48.853 | 1’34.292 | -14.561 | 34 |
| 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull-Renault | 1’49.097 | 1’34.497 | -14.6 | 33 | |
| 4 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams-Mercedes | 1’53.964 | 1’34.797 | -19.167 | 41 | |
| 5 | Felipe Massa | Williams-Mercedes | 1’52.288 | 1’52.765 | 1’34.934 | -17.354 | 43 |
| 6 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1’51.212 | 1’50.319 | 1’35.082 | -15.237 | 47 |
| 7 | Max Verstappen | Toro Rosso-Renault | 1’50.940 | 1’50.542 | 1’35.160 | -15.382 | 41 |
| 8 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1’50.519 | 1’50.268 | 1’35.222 | -15.046 | 46 |
| 9 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Mercedes | 1’52.534 | 1’35.602 | -16.932 | 26 | |
| 10 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Toro Rosso-Renault | 1’49.434 | 1’50.418 | 1’35.963 | -13.471 | 45 |
| 11 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India-Mercedes | 1’51.674 | 1’36.110 | -15.564 | 34 | |
| 12 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Honda | 1’55.678 | 1’51.861 | 1’36.174 | -15.687 | 30 |
| 13 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’53.820 | 1’51.934 | 1’36.199 | -15.735 | 43 |
| 14 | Daniil Kvyat | Red Bull-Renault | 1’49.938 | 1’48.277 | 1’36.294 | -11.983 | 35 |
| 15 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus-Mercedes | 1’51.557 | 1’36.307 | -15.25 | 29 | |
| 16 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren-Honda | 1’55.239 | 1’36.360 | -18.879 | 33 | |
| 17 | Sergio Perez | Force India-Mercedes | 1’52.070 | 1’36.430 | -15.64 | 32 | |
| 18 | Felipe Nasr | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’54.013 | 1’50.968 | 1’36.919 | -14.049 | 43 |
| 19 | Will Stevens | Manor-Ferrari | 1’58.059 | 1’39.653 | -18.406 | 33 | |
| 20 | Alexander Rossi | Manor-Ferrari | 1’59.419 | 1’39.819 | -19.6 | 33 |
2015 Japanese Grand Prix
- Verstappen earns plaudits for Japan and Singapore performances
- Sponsor watch: 2015 Singapore and Japanese Grands Prix
- Second-best Singapore GP but lowest score for Suzuka
- 2015 Japanese Grand Prix team radio transcript
- Top ten pictures from the 2015 Japanese Grand Prix
Himmat
26th September 2015, 5:05
Well, it’s service as usual. Guess we’ll never know what really “happened” to the Mercs in S’pore.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
26th September 2015, 5:08
Paddy Lowe had some interesting things to say about that yesterday.
Kingshark (@kingshark)
26th September 2015, 5:13
Ferrari dominated 12 of the first 13 races in 2004, but were completely outclassed by Renault in Monaco. This wasn’t the first time such a scenario has occurred and it probably won’t be the last. Some circuits just don’t suit some cars.
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
26th September 2015, 5:17
I wouldn’t be so sure. The Merc didn’t look as connected as the RB. Merc was blinding quick through the speed trap and looked loose on the medium.
Faiz (@fronaldo)
26th September 2015, 5:09
Looks like Ferrari might be 4th best team this weekend..
Kingshark (@kingshark)
26th September 2015, 5:16
Ferrari were pretty slow in practice at Hungary too. I’d wait before judgement, but it’s not exactly looking promising.
ura
26th September 2015, 5:21
Dunno what people expect. It’s only logical….
Srdjan Mandic (@srga91)
26th September 2015, 6:43
Just wait for qualy. Their long runs in the first half of the session looked quite good. Their times were similar to those of the Mercs.
It won’t be easy for sure against the Williams & RB, but I think they’ve got still something in hand for qualy.
JohnBt
26th September 2015, 5:34
Looks like the Merc mojo is back which was expected though. Wait for quail than the race where it counts. A dry race on Sunday will be gratifying.
paul
26th September 2015, 5:55
I think you meant “boring”.
Craig Woollard (@craig-o)
26th September 2015, 5:54
Top marks to all of the teams for finding so much time between Friday and Saturday ;)
Rony John
26th September 2015, 6:59
Vettel shoud hve this
ireni
26th September 2015, 8:49
You must be kidding…
Corrado (@)
26th September 2015, 14:10
Good…