Japanese F1 Grand Prix practice LIVE: Up-to-the-minute coverage as Red Bull’s brutal driver change is put to the test

Thanks again for joining us. We’re just minutes away from the second practice session at Suzuka, where Lando Norris topped the timesheets in the first session as Yuki Tsunoda impressed his new boss Christian Horner with an assured first stint in the Red Bull.

That’s it for now – but we’ll return to cover second practice, which begins at 3pm Tokyo time, 7am BST and 5pm Australian time.

‘A good start for Yuki, he settled into the car pretty well and gave good feedback,’ the Red Bull boss has just told Sky, adding that he and Verstappen were both on the same engine mode.

He then repeated his ‘cruel to be kind’ take on Lawson’s sacking, branded him a talent and said the team still has faith he can be a star in future.

The standout is Yuki Tsunoda doing a great job of acclimatising to his new car, leaving team boss Christian Horner all smiles (below).

He was just a tenth off Max Verstappen, got through his 25 laps without incident and described the Red Bull as ‘interesting’.

Liam Lawson was 13th in the Racing Bull, about three tenths down on Isack Hadjar, which is still a big improvement over his sessions in the first two grands prix.

No crashes, just three off-track excursions that weren’t even close to being dangerous, and one funny moment from Carlos Sainz.

1. Lando Norris, 1:28.549

2. George Russell, 1:28.712

3. Charles Leclerc, 1:28.965

4. Lewis Hamilton, 1:29.051

5. Max Verstappen, 1:29.065

6. Yuki Tsunoda, 1:29.172

7. Fernando Alonso, 1:29.222

8. Isack Hadjar, 1:29.225

9. Kimi Antonelli, 1:29.284

10. Carlos Sainz Jr, 1:29.333

Lando Norris has topped the leaderboard in a practice session that was almost entirely devoid of drama…

Again, it’s not a big off, with no damage, and he gets straight back on track.

‘Yeah, I locked up,’ he tells the team.

With five minutes left, the Haas cars of Esteban Ocon (last) and Oliver Bearman (19th) are dragging the chain, with neither breaking through the 1:30 barrier.

He just told the McLaren race engineer that he’s already experiencing graining on the front tyres, which reduces his grip – and will be something you’d expect the team to have a close look at.

The Kiwi is currently 13th with a lap of 1:29.536, compared to his teammate Isack Hadjar in eighth with 1:29.225.

Oscar Piastri is currently sitting in 15th with a best lap of 1:29.708, more than a second down on his teammate, who is now on an out lap after pitting. Both are on the softs.

Comparing the Red Bull stars’ times sector by sector shows the newcomer is shading the world champion on the straights at the minute.

Lando Norris now sits atop the timesheets after recording a lap of 1:28.549, with Russell second, Leclerc third – and Hamilton fourth with 1:29.051.

Tsunoda is just a tenth off Verstappen, with the teammates third and fourth at the moment.

McLaren’s Lando Norris and Williams’ Alex Albon have both got it a little out of shape in the last couple of laps. Nothing serious and no real damage.

They’re both on the softs, with Leclerc climbing to second with a lap of 1:28.965, with Hamilston on 1:29.413.

He’s acclimatising quickly, judging by his time, and just told his race engineer he doesn’t want to be told how other drivers are going because he just wants to concentrate on his own form. That’s the sort of statement that shows you he’s matured since his early days on the grid.

Williams, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and the Mercedes drivers have now joined Red Bull by bolting on the faster compound.

That’s a lap of 1:28.809 for the Brit, who stays in top spot and has clocked up 12 laps so far, with only Sainz ahead of him on that front with 14.

Time for the teams to go over the data they’ve collected halfway through this first practice session…

The Spaniard just had to apologise to the Williams team after stuffing up his return to the garage – because he forgot where it is located.

‘Box, box, remember we are at the beginning of pit lane,’ the team said on radio.

‘Oh f***, I missed it, guys. I thought we were at the end, sorry!’ Sainz replied.

Despite his almost complete lack of familiarity with his new car, he’s cutting his times down and has just gone seventh quickest with a lap of 1:3.076.

The Dutchman just complained that his car is behaving strangely and ‘flexing’ a lot. This year’s Red Bull is rumoured to be something of a handful and it looks like the engineers will have a bit of work to do on their set-up for Suzuka.

The Mercedes star has put in a lap of 1:29.176, half a second up on Verstappen’s best effort.

The Briton has recorded a best lap of 1:30.271, about two tenths down on his teammate, who is currently third on the leaderboard.

The only drivers to have cracked the 1.30 mark are spearated by less than a tenth of a second.

That comes with an important caveat: the Red Bull drivers are the only members of the field on the soft tyre, with the majority of the others running on mediums.

The Ferrari star – pictured below – has turned in a lap of 1.30.769, putting him third after five laps.

Lawson has clocked 1:34.231, while Isack Hadjar has run a lap of 1.32.092 – not surprising considering Lawson’s complete lack of experience in the Racing Bull.

After the first lap, the reigning champion is 1.8 seconds ahead of his teammate, but it’s not worth trying to take too much out of that as the drivers get used to the track conditions and the set-ups of their cars.

Red Bull’s livery change for this grand prix has left their cars looking very close to the Racing Bulls.

The easiest way to tell the two apart is the Racing Bulls have more yellow, especially when viewed head-on, with Verstappen and Tsunoda’s cars running white, red and black only.

Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari is first out, followed by his teammate, then the Racing Bulls…

Suzuka now has five new gravel traps, and the first sector has been resurfaced.

And in some good news for the drivers, there’s a strong headwind at the moment as they head towards turn one, which will help with their downforce as they take the famous bend.

The Frenchman, who drove for Red Bull in 2019, has spoken to Tsunoda since his promotion and said ‘he’s got the experience, he’s got the speed’ to make a fist of driving for Christian Horner’s team – but he’s also cautious about the Japanese star’s chances.

‘Does [his talent] mean he’s going to be successful in Red Bull Racing? No,’ Gasly said.

‘It’s slightly more complicated than that … in Formula One these days, you’ve got many strong drivers on the grid, so it’s not all down to your speed.’

Those remarks could be alluding to Tsunoda’s mental strength, which was called into question when he first broke into F1 and became known for his wild outbursts on team radio, but has improved as he’s become more experienced.

The 1997 world champion just told Sky’s coverage that while Lawson (pictured below with Helmut Marko) looked confident behind the wheel last year, he ‘collapsed’ in 2025 as he had a horror run of results in Australia and China.

Yes, he won the sprint race in China after a poor showing for the Prancing Horse in qualifying and the race in Melbourne, but that first victory was followed by disqualifications for the Briton and teammate Charles Leclerc, giving rise to speculation the seven-time world champ is already frustrated with his new team.

The Red Bull boss admitted sacking Liam Lawson after just two races for the team was ‘horrible’ for the New Zealander – and revealed what he told the 23-year-old after the axe fell.

Good news – the weather forecast at Suzuka is sunny, with a top temperature of 14C – which makes for a small change from the blistering 37C conditions the drivers faced on the second day of the year’s first GP in Melbourne.

Thanks for joining Mail Sport’s live coverage of the first and second practices at Suzuka, where Red Bull’s newly promoted Yuki Tsunoda will share the track with the man whose seat he took, Liam Lawson.

We’ll bring you the latest lap times, updates and incidents as the third grand prix event of the 2025 season gets underway.