Lewis Hamilton admitted he was “considering” a Ferrari car for himself but said he saw his “North Star” after Friday’s challenge at the Japanese Grand Prix.
Hamilton was eight tenths off second-place pacesetter Oscar Piastri in practice and, like his Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc, suffered visibly from oversteer throughout the day at Suzuka.
Towards the end of the session, during a long run, Hamilton said he was “not confident” in the car, but later became more optimistic when he told Sky Sports of his hopes for qualifying from 6am on Saturday.
“Interestingly, it’s the way this car is set up. There are some similarities to what I felt last year, so we’re working on that,” he said.
“I’m sure we can find something overnight and take it to a better place. It’s a great track, but you have to be able to sit in the back and be comfortable. And that stays with you. And today I had a snap. I don’t think the other guys can match it.”
“We’re going to dive deeper tonight and get some interesting readings from the simulator. I feel like we have a little bit of an idea of the North Star, and that’s the only way to get there, so we’ll try to figure it out.”
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Lewis Hamilton explains why he told his team during Friday free practice at the Japanese Grand Prix that he didn’t have confidence in the car
Russell ‘surprised’ by McLaren’s pace
Championship leader George Russell was two tenths behind Piastri in second practice as he looks to get back on track after losing to teammate Kimi Antonelli in China.
Russell, who has a four-point lead over Antonelli in the drivers’ championship, admitted Mercedes could be faster going forward, but said he was impressed with McLaren.
“McLaren was quite fast, which surprised me a little bit. There are still some things that we need to improve on, so we need to work on it a little bit tonight,” he said.
“Lando had a mixed day, but Oscar came out of the box and was on a roll from the first lap. We had more to do, but the situation was not completely optimized on my side, especially in terms of energy management.”
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George Russell doesn’t think it’s right that Mercedes is slowing down with rule changes after two races
Piastri added: “We know there is still work to do and it is clear that our competitors, especially Mercedes, are very strong.”
“But the focus is on our own performance. We want to build on our progress from today and build on that momentum to become even more competitive.”
However, it wasn’t all positive for McLaren as Lando Norris suffered an oil pressure leak that cost him 20 minutes in second practice.
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Lando Norris says McLaren’s China issue is understood and he is confident McLaren will have the best car yet by the end of this season
Norris admitted that despite theoretically better track conditions, he was at a “weak spot” at the end of the day after not being able to do long runs and could only go as far as fourth on his best lap.
“It was a pretty bad day for us. We just didn’t have enough laps. Things aren’t going the way we want at the moment, especially because we’re still learning with every lap we can do and I’m missing a lot of laps,” said the reigning world champion.
“It wasn’t the best start, but I took the night off to see how it went and fix it for tomorrow.”
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Max Verstappen, Lando Norris and George Russell reflect on Friday practice for the Japanese Grand Prix
Verstappen predicts “miracles won’t happen”
Max Verstappen finished 10th, 1.4 seconds off the pace, suggesting that Red Bull’s troubled start to 2026 continues and they will only fight for a place in Q3 at Suzuka.
The Milton Keynes-based team brought new sidepods, floors and engine covers to the Japanese Grand Prix, but they do not appear to have improved their competitiveness.
“We just lack balance and grip. From FP1 to FP2 they were two complete opposites. Neither one was very good,” said Verstappen, who turned pole position into victory in the last four Japanese GPs.
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Max Verstappen wanted to understand Red Bull better during break before Miami and enjoyed second Nordschleife experience despite disqualification
“For our part, we have a lot of work to do to understand why we have such big problems at the moment. It’s not a good day. We try to solve one thing and then get another (problem) and we never find a good balance.
“We can’t expect miracles to happen overnight because they’re very difficult to solve. We just need to understand our problems a little bit more, where they’re coming from.”
Sky Sports F1 Japan GP Schedule
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A look back at the wildest moments captured by in-car cameras at the Japanese Grand Prix
Saturday, March 28th
2:15am: Japanese GP Practice 3 (session starts at 2:30am)*
5am: Japanese GP qualifying build-up*
6am: Japanese GP Qualifying*
8am: Ted’s Qualification Notes*
Sunday, March 29th
4:30am: Preparations for the Japanese Grand Prix – Grand Prix Sunday*
6am: Japanese Grand Prix*
8am: Japanese GP reaction – checkered flag*
9am: Ted’s Notes*
*The main event will also be broadcast live on Sky Sports
F1 will be at the iconic Suzuka Circuit this weekend for the Japanese Grand Prix, which will be broadcast live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports now – cancel anytime with no contract
