Russell Tops Japanese GP Practice, Narrowly Beats Antonelli

0:00On March 27, George Russell topped the first practice session at the Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka. Clocking 1 minute 31.666, seconds to lead Mercedes-T-May, Kimi Antonelli, by just 26,000s of a second. Raining champion Lando Norris took third from McLaren, with Oscar Piaestry 4th, a solid start after their troubles in China. Early on, Ferraris Charles the Clare and Lewis Hamilton set the pace on hard tires, but Russell jumped ahead before soft tires shook things up. Antonelli briefly led after Russell win wide, while teams like Aston Martin ran aerial tools and gave Fernando Alonzo's car to reserve driver Jack Crawford. Drivers dealt with oversteer issues, including Red Bull's Isaac Hadjar on cold brakes, and Williams's Alex Albon, who scattered gravel, tapped a barrier, and later collided with Cadillac's Sergio Perez, leaving debris and drawing an investigation. Mercedes flashed their wolf-themed delivery in strong form.

1:00Max Perstapp and landed 7th, behind the top McLaren's and the Clare, with racing bulls' Liam Lawson afe after a close call. Haas, Adi, and others, filled out the midfield, as Piaestry eyes his first race start this season. Teams now gear up for second practice at 3pm local time, setting the stage for a competitive weekend at Honda's home track. That's your update from F1 News today, powered by AI. I'm Corey with the story.