Everything we learnt on Friday

Friday at Suzuka was undoubtedly eventful, even if we didn't actually see that much running. 4 red flags, a huge crash and plenty of talking points, here's everything we learnt from Day 1 in Japan.

Yuki has a positive start

All eyes this weekend are on home hero and newly confirmed Red Bull Racing driver, Yuki Tsunoda and he got off to the best start he could have asked for.

With 25 laps under his belt in FP1, he was just a tenth off the pace of Max Verstappen, with team boss Christian Horner confirming the pair were on equal engine settings.

He then continued to look gradually more comfortable in the car through FP2, however much of the session was interrupted by the four red flags.

His final time in FP2 saw him behind Max and both VCARBs, however he was the only driver of the four not to put in a time on the soft tyre.

Yuki said this after Friday's running: "FP1 was better than expected, a good start for myself. FP2, I didn't set a lap time.

"There's lots of work to do. Maybe I slightly struggled, or something we have to look through data. But overall it's okay. Just have to build up more confidence.

"I knew it was always gonna be a bit different in the real car, and it was a little bit more exaggerated, it feels a bit more tricky."

Helmut Marko was asked if Yuki Tsunoda had proved he could make that Red Bull seat his own to which he replied: “Yes, a very good day for Yuki. He proved it today.”

Christian Horner was also full of praise for Yuki after the first session: "It was a good start for Yuki. He settled in well, and gave very good feedback.”

Even without as many laps as he would have liked in FP2, Yuki will definitely take confidence from his opening day in the Red Bull.

VCARB look dangerous once again

Whilst most eyes are on Yuki this weekend, there are also plenty of eyes and pressure on Liam Lawson, and he too had a good Friday to settle into his new (well old) team.

Even though he was slower than Isack Hadjar throughout, Liam looked to be getting closer as the two sessions went on and purely through the fact he was up in the top ten again, where he hadn't been at all for Red Bull, shows how much easier the RB is.

It will of course take time for Liam to readjust, however, the signs are positive that with that time he can get back to the levels we know he's capable of and shown in the past.

As for Isack, another stellar start to a weekend. He was on the pace in FP1 and looked incredibly competitive in FP2 on the softs. There had been a lot of talk about 'What if Liam out-qualifies Yuki?' but it seems if any VCARB is going to, it'll be Isack.

VCARB have suffered a poor start to the season, despite having what appears to be the fifth quickest car. With a clean weekend, finally some big points should be on the table for the side.

McLaren pair 4 tenths clear

There had been talk that maybe this weekend the Ferrari's or Red Bull’s could challenge the McLaren, however from Friday’s running it seems as though we should be in for a repeat of what we've seen in the opening two rounds. McLaren dominance.

Lando Norris topped the timings in FP1 from George Russell by over a tenth before the McLaren pair put 4 tenths on the rest of the field in FP2.

It had looked early on in FP1 that the McLaren was a bit of a handful, but after some tweaks, the Papaya car looked back to its usual self.

Oscar Piastri wasn't able to set a fully representative lap in FP1, however, topped the timings ahead of Lando in second practice.

With the competition seemingly a couple of tenths off the pace, the battle for pole once again seems to be between the two McLaren teammates.

Positives for Ferrari and Mercedes

With all that being said, Mercedes and Ferrari will still be somewhat happy about their performance on Friday.

In FP1, Russell’s Mercedes and Leclerc’s Ferrari rounded out the top three behind Norris, whilst Hamilton was just behind in P4. FP2 saw Ferrari once again up there, this time with Hamilton P4 again and Leclerc P7.

Whilst they were fourth-tenths off the pace and behind the VCARBs, it's still positive for both Ferraris to once again be so close in terms of performance.

As for Mercedes in FP2, Russell remained in a similar ballpark to the Ferraris and VCARBs, four-tenths of the McLarens, whilst Kimi appeared to be taking a little longer to get up to speed in both sessions.

It has been suggested that Red Bull, after their dominance here last year, would be the ones to take the fight to the McLarens, however from Friday's running, it would seem to be the Ferraris and Russell with the best shot.

Pressure ramping on Doohan

Jack Doohan had quite possibly the worst preparation day he could have on Friday. He was out of the second Alpine seat for FP1, replaced by Japan's Ryo Hirakawa, and even though Hirakawa isn't in contention for that second Alpine seat, he impressed and that alone will continue to remind Alpine bosses there are other drivers who could do a job in that seat.

Then onto FP2 and less than ten minutes in, he flew off into the barriers at turn 1 at an incredibly high speed. It's hard to tell what happened to the rear of his Alpine, but it appeared to not be all on Jack, however, you can bet it's still going to play on the mind of Briatore and Co.

There was huge damage to Jack's car which will need a big turnaround to be ready for tomorrow, but also Jack himself.

The impact of the crash meant Jack was taken to the medical centre, and immediately post-crash, Jack seemed shaken up, understandably.

The Aussie has a lot of work tomorrow to get up to scratch and it seems it’ll be an uphill battle to get out of Q1.

Alonso’s strange start to the season continues

Fernando Alonso has endured a tricky start to his 2025 season, crashing in Melbourne's race and then retiring early on in Shanghai.

After a week away, the Spaniard would have been hoping for a clean weekend to try to build his season from and FP1 looked to be the perfect start.

Fernando was best of the rest as he put in a lap good enough for P7, however FP2 saw him only complete 5 laps after beaching his Aston Martin.

It came after Alonso dipped a tyre into the grass at turn 8.

It's another mistake in an ever-increasing catalogue for Fernando, who will need a solid Saturday to stop the rot, even if it is just three races into the season.

FP1 Results:

P1) Norris - 1:28.549

P2) Russell +0.163

P3) Leclerc +0.416

P4) Hamilton +0.502

P5) Verstappen +0.516

P6) Tsunoda +0.623

P7) Alonso +0.673

P8) Hadjar +0.676

P9) Antonelli +0.735

P10) Sainz +0.784

FP2 Results: