Once each driver had made turns on the Red marked rubber of Pirelli, it was the chief of the championship Norris who exceeded the sheets of time with a reference of 1m 28.549 around a partially raised and updated track, followed closely by Russell and Leclerc.
Norris’ effort, who came a little later in the session than those around him, and followed a trip to the grass and gravel coming out of the final chicane, kept it in place P1 on the Mercedes and Ferrari drivers above to the tile flag.
As it happened: follow all the action of the first practice of the Japanese Grand Prix
Lewis Hamilton supported his teammate Leclerc in fourth position, Red Bulls from Verstappen and Tsunoda, who remained closely equal, while Fernando Alonso put his Aston Martin encouraging the seventh with the racing runner Isack Hadjar.
Kimi Antonelli finished ninth in the sister Mercedes, after surviving a visit to the Gravel at Turn 11 in hair pin, with the pair Williams Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon respectively in P10 and P11 – the latter doing the same thing as Antonelli earlier in the session.
