Mercedes crushed the third test in Japan with Kimi Antonelli ahead

The Italian was the fastest in the last practice session of the third F1 round and was 867 thousandths ahead of Charles Lerclerc, the third.

Mercedes repeated the great Australia in Japan: after a Friday that sowed doubts and excited rivals, they accelerated in the third training session on Saturday morning and something else. The difference made by the Arrows in the final test in Suzuka is enough for the rivals to pack their bags and just enter the stoppage of a month without races that F1 will experience in April due to the cancellations of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. Kimi Antonelli took first place, with 1m29s362, followed by his teammate George Russell, 254 thousandths behind. The third was Charles Leclerc at 867 thousandths!

The Mercedes had been earthy on Friday. It seemed that they could even give up the first step of the podium in this Sunday’s race. Be careful, it can still happen because technical failures are the order of the day at this time of new technical regulations. But under normal conditions, there is no doubt that Mercedes will take pole and win the race. The big question is whether it will be with Antonelli or Russell. And you don’t need Aladdin’s lamp to understand it. Just seeing the pace that the W17 showed is enough.

The Mercedes were the only ones that could go under 90 seconds during the tests and Antonelli lowered them by 638 thousandths. In qualy, they will probably reach 1m28s, stratospheric. Just to understand, Oscar Piastri went from being the fastest on Friday to finishing 1s002 in fourth place in training this Saturday. Lewis Hamilton was fifth, at 1s021 and Lando Norris, after a new problem with his MCL40, was sixth at 1s238.

Nico Hülkenberg with his Audi was seventh and surpassed Max Verstappen (Red Bull does not find its way in Japan). Gabriel Bortoleto was ninth with the other car of the four rings and Pierre Gasly closed the top ten with the Alpine. The next start will be qualifying, in which some will fight to reach Q3, others to occupy the second row and Antonelli and Russell, for pole.