Mercedes surprised by McLaren pace as Piastri tops Japan Friday practice

Mercedes driver George Russell confessed himself surprised by the pace of reigning champions McLaren after Oscar Piastri finished atop the Friday lap charts for the Japanese GP.

A quickest mark of 1m30.133s was enough for the Australian to end the session ahead of the Mercedes duo of Chinese GP winner Kimi Antonelli and Russell respectively.

Next came the resurgent Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton with Nico Hulkenberg an encouraging seventh quickest for Audi. Alex Albon, Oliver Bearman and Max Verstappen rounded out the top ten.

Kimi Antonelli of Italy on track during practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Japan at Suzuka Circuit on March 27, 2026 in Suzuka, Japan. (Photo by Sam Bloxham/LAT Images)

“Overall, we had a decent Friday out there,” commented Russell on the official MercedesF1 press release. “It was a little surprising to see the pace of McLaren but there is no reason to believe that it isn’t genuine.

“We’ve clearly got some work to do overnight to find some pace if we are to challenge them tomorrow. Fortunately, we have several areas where we are aiming to improve and hopefully, we can do that overnight.”

Oscar Piastri topped the Friday free practice times – Credit SPACESUIT MEDIA

Mercedes will have much to be cheerful about, having topped the times in FP1 and their drivers leading the championship with two wins out of two.

And although there was much discussion beforehand about the new energy harvesting ruining the challenge of the iconic Suzuka circuit, Russell remained optimistic that not too much has changed.

Kimi Antonelli leads Carlos Sainz during practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Japan at Suzuka Circuit on March 27, 2026 in Suzuka, Japan. (Photo by Simon Galloway/LAT Images)

“There has been a lot of noise about how these new cars would behave around this track and their relative pace,” added Russell.

“There are a couple of areas on the single lap that we are slightly slower into the apex, but the Esses are still super challenging and the speeds we are achieving halfway down the back straight are some of the fastest we’ve ever done.”

Indeed, it was a fairly entertaining first day on track in Suzuka, drivers racing three abreast in overtakes and Alex Albon colliding with the Cadillac of Sergio Perez in FP1.

But it was another miserable session for the struggling Aston Martin F1 Team, Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll ending 19th and 21st on the time sheets respectively.

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