For the third round of the 2025 Formula One World Championship, we made our way across the East China Sea from Shanghai to Suzuka. Get the thoughts of Lance, Fernando and our team following Friday's Free Practice.
Situated among the sakura for the start of the season's first triple-header, our drivers used Friday's sessions to gather data on the track's new surface.
Friday round-up and reaction
It was a windy morning in Suzuka, with a tailwind present throughout the circuit during Free Practice One.
As the team assessed the pace of the AMR25 and worked to understand how the tyres reacted to Sector One's resurfacing, Lance and Fernando ran a combination of shorter and longer stints throughout the day in preparation for Qualifying and Sunday's Grand Prix.
Setting a combined 50 laps in the weekend's first practice, our drivers began on Hard tyres before switching to the Soft compound with a third of the session still to go.
Lance and Fernando were straight out in FP2 to gather information on the Medium compound tyre. Fernando was unlucky to get stuck in the gravel during the second half of the second practice, and four Red Flags over the course of the session – two caused by grass fires – resulted in limited running for the team.
#18 | Lance Stroll | Free Practice
"It's nice to be back in Suzuka. There wasn't too much running in FP2 due to multiple red flags, but we've been able to learn quite a lot and will analyse the data tonight. I'm looking forward to applying what we've learnt and getting back in the car tomorrow."
#14 | Fernando Alonso | Free Practice
"It's always great to drive around Suzuka. It's a fantastic circuit with a great atmosphere thanks to the amazing fans.
"The new surface is better. It's very smooth in the first sector's high-speed corners. In FP2 I lost the car into Turn 8 and I ended up in the gravel. We'll have a look at what happened and let's see what we can do tomorrow in Qualifying."
Next up
The weekend's final practice session takes place on Saturday at 03:30 BST, followed by Qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix at 07:00 BST.
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