Lando Norris narrows gap on Max Verstappen at final practice in Japan

Lando Norris raised hopes that he could challenge Max Verstappen for pole at the Japanese Grand Prix by finishing final practice within three tenths of the Red Bull driver.

Verstappen’s record 10-race winning run and Red Bull’s unbeaten season came to an end in Singapore last weekend.

He had set a blistering pace on Friday to suggest the team have put their struggles in the city-state behind them.

The Dutchman’s margin in opening practice was a huge 0.626 seconds over Ferrari’s Singapore-winner Carlos Sainz before beating Charles Leclerc by 0.320sec in P2.

FP1 ✅ FP2 ✅ FP3 ✅ Max tops all three practice sessions with Checo in P4 as we move to Quali