Lando Norris says nothing Max Verstappen does is a surprise anymore, after being beaten by the Red Bull driver in the Japanese Grand Prix.

Verstappen pulled out a stunning qualifying lap on Saturday to take a surprise pole position ahead of the two McLaren drivers, edging out Norris by just 0.012s. That proved crucial, with track position central to Verstappen’s victory on Sunday, and Norris says he has always known and acknowledged what his championship rival is capable of.

“I feel like I get a lot of questions like, ‘Are you surprised by Max?’ when he does a day like [qualifying] or a race like [Sunday],” Norris said. “And I guess people always expect me to say yes, but I don’t think there is a reason to be. I don’t think I ever have.

“I’ve always had a lot of respect for Max. But there are those moments that when you’re in the car and when you’re driving, you know what is good and what is not. And I think I don’t need anyone to tell me what Max is capable of doing or whether I should think this or that. Of course, I’ve always got my own opinions, but I’m always going to have the respect.

“I know how good he’s been since we shook hands back in 2015 or something, 2014, and I was half the height I am now! So I don’t need people to tell me these things. And people seem shocked when I say I’m not surprised and stuff like that, but I know how good he is. I know what he’s capable of doing.

“So I would say nothing is a surprise anymore. But I still believe that we’re going to have some good races and we can go toe-to-toe and that some days he’ll come out on top and others I will.”

Despite the trio taking a victory apiece so far this year, Norris believes it isn’t just Verstappen and teammate Oscar Piastri who will be fighting for wins this season, but for now he sees them as the most likely competitors for the drivers’ title given their consistency.

“I still think at times we’re going to see some more competition from the guys behind. Charles was not that much slower [in Suzuka]. There was a bigger gap, but I think his second stint on the hards was just as quick as mine. I didn’t think we dropped him at all. So other cars are quick.

“I think we pushed a lot in the beginning, and it was a race where you just flat out from the off. It was a quick race. But I think we’re the three who are the most consistent at the minute and putting in the times in quali and putting the good races in.

“But George has been quick this weekend. I don’t know, maybe again, they struggled a bit more in Q3 for whatever reason and then therefore in the race. But I’m sure like if you put a George starting on pole, I think he probably still would have won the race.

“So I think anytime someone does that bit of a better job on Saturday for qualifying, they can have those opportunities come their way. But at the minute, I think McLaren, Red Bull, and probably between us three, we’re doing a better job than the rest.”

Lewis Hamilton says there has “been a bit of a deficit” on his car compared to teammate Charles Leclerc after finishing seventh at the Japanese Grand Prix.

Leclerc delivered a strong performance to qualify fourth and hold off the two Mercedes drivers to retain that position in the race at Suzuka, while Hamilton was eighth on the grid and overtook Isack Hadjar to secure seventh. That was the only position change in the top ten during the race, and Hamilton says he believes he has been getting the maximum out of his car given an issue with an unspecified component.

“I’m happy when I move forwards,” Hamilton said. “I’m really hoping in the next race we’ll see, hopefully, some positive changes. Through the first three races, there’s been a bit of a deficit between both sides of the garage on an element of the car, so on my side, something [is] underperforming. So, it’s good to know, with what I had, that’s the best results.”

Hamilton suggested the difference could be worth in the region of a tenth of a second per lap, but while he hopes to make progress at the upcoming Bahrain Grand Prix he warns Ferrari still has a big margin to close to the likes of McLaren and Mercedes.

“My pace, I think considering [the deficit], was maximum – I didn’t have anything else in the car. Performance missing at the rear of the car this weekend, and obviously qualifying position is key,” he said.

“I think I probably would have been overtaken by McLarens and the Mercedes too if I was any further ahead. And I’m hoping the next race could be, somehow, an interesting exercise.

“It’s definitely going to be interesting [in Bahrain], I just hope we’re a little bit closer. We’re probably the fourth fastest car at the moment, and I think we are a little bit off the other guys in terms of performance, downforce-level wise. So, we’ve got so much to do to close the gap.

“We’re making slow progress with the car. It will be interesting to see when people get upgrades over the season. We’ve got a lot of work to be able to close the gap into the top cars, the top guys, they’ve probably got three or four tenths on us, so we’ve got a lot of work to bring upgrades for that.”

Haas has named Ryo Hirakawa as its reserve driver for 2025 and will run the experienced Japanese in first practice at this weekend Bahrain Grand Prix.

Hirakawa has been amassing experience in multiple different Formula 1 cars in recent months, with testing of previous car (TPC) outings with McLaren leading to driving FP1 for the same team in Abu Dhabi last year. Hirakawa then drove for Haas in the young driver test that followed the end of last season, before an FP1 outing at Suzuka for Alpine last weekend.

The Suzuka appearance came as part of Hirakawa’s role as one of multiple reserve options at Alpine, but Haas has now also named the 32-year-old – who is affiliated with its technical partner Toyota – as its reserve.

Hirakawa will complete all four of Haas’ rookie outings this season, replacing Ollie Bearman in Bahrain and Mexico City, while he will take over Esteban Ocon’s car in Barcelona and Abu Dhabi.

“I’m excited to join MoneyGram Haas F1 Team, I really appreciate this opportunity, and I’m really looking forward to a new journey with the team,” Hirakawa said. “I’m driving my first FP1 session in Bahrain, so for me to have driven at two race weekends in a row is exciting, and I can’t wait to get to Bahrain.

“I would like to thank Komatsu-san, MoneyGram Haas F1 Team, Morizo-san (Akio Toyoda, Chairman of Toyota Motor Corporation) and Toyota Gazoo Racing for this opportunity, it’s a new challenge for me and I can’t wait to get started.”

Komatsu says the track time Hirakawa has been building up across so many teams gives him a significant understanding of different cars that Haas can tap into.

“It’s great to welcome Ryo to MoneyGram Haas F1 Team and have his experience bolster our knowledge and understanding of the VF-25,” Komatsu said. “His feedback was very detailed at the post-season test last year, so being able to provide Ryo valuable track time across four different circuits this year will help the entire team.

“As part of our collaboration with Toyota Gazoo Racing, it’s great to welcome new talent into the team – it’s a real pleasure to work with a racer of his driving acumen.”

Hirakawa will not be the only rookie driving in FP1 in Bahrain, with Dino Beganovic getting his first outing at Ferrari as one of a number of expected replacement drivers. The venue lends itself well because FP1 and FP3 are less representative for race drivers given the sunset timing of the grand prix, and their greater experience of the track due to testing.

Red Bull came into this race weekend with a huge spotlight on the team. It was largely on the second seat and the driver change that had taken place, but it very much captured Max Verstappen in its glare, too.

Verstappen had clearly not been happy with the decision to drop Liam Lawson after just two races. The Dutchman got on well with Lawson, had seen what he was capable of in the Racing Bulls car, and was certain that the issue was not with the driver alongside him, it was with the car.

That was an extension of the feeling from Verstappen when Sergio Perez was replaced at the end of last season, too, and with Red Bull still appearing to lag behind McLaren, it could easily have been interpreted that he was frustrated with the situation.

But far from letting that become his overall demeanor, he had already made very clear that how he feels on a personal level and how tough his RB21 is to drive do not have a direct correlation.

“I hear this all the time but for me nothing changes,” Verstappen told Sky Sports in China of whether he has patience with the team. “I’m actually very relaxed — I’m very positive in my mind. I’m enjoying life.

“So every time I jump in the car I just try to do the best I can, and I’m not thinking about anything else, to be honest, because I feel good in life in general — if that’s in the car, outside the car — and that’s actually what matters the most.”

What also matters to Verstappen, though, is winning. On Saturday in Suzuka he pulled out a stunning qualifying lap that gave him a chance to do some more of that, and on Sunday he took that opportunity with both hands.

Decisively retaining his lead off the line, Verstappen always had enough of an answer for the lurking McLarens behind him, navigating the pit stop phase and then pulling out the extra few tenths of a second he needed whenever Lando Norris threatened to come within DRS range.

The superlatives were flowing, with his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase calling it “perfection,” team principal Christian Horner saying it was “one of Max’s best weekends that he’s had.” And while those words do mean something to the four-time world champion, it’s also what his actions to earn that acclaim represent.

“It also means that I really care, even though of course it’s not been the easiest start to the year for us,” he said. “We are not where we want to be in terms of performance. I think that’s no secret.

“But this weekend has been really, really nice. Sometimes you have those kind of moments where you get some really great laps out of it. And luckily also the balance got a bit more together throughout that qualifying.

“So we just have to keep on working. I mean it’s nice, but I’m a person who doesn’t listen to the positives and the negatives. I’m just in the middle. I just focus on my own performances and just keep working, keep grinding.”

Through that approach, Verstappen was able to deliver a result that went a long way to moving the focus away from the potentially negative aspects of Red Bull’s handling of drivers, and the far more positive celebration of the final Japanese Grand Prix of the Honda partnership.

The 27-year-old was already a legend in Honda’s eyes due to the four drivers’ championship he has won with its power units, but to win at Suzuka in a tribute livery when it never looked on the cards only cements its adulation for him.

“It means a lot to me,” Verstappen said of the significance of the result. “It was in the back of my mind as well. On those last few laps, I was like, ‘Well, I need to try and stay ahead – it would be a great story.’ Our final kind of farewell race together with Honda here in Japan. I’m incredibly proud of what we have achieved over all those years together. And I think this is like a perfect send-off.

“Already yesterday was a very beautiful day for us. And then of course to follow it up with a win is just fantastic. Honestly, the relationship that we’ve had with Honda has been amazing. I’ve really enjoyed my time with them — how they also work, how professional they are and how dedicated they are.

“They’ve given me so much. Together we’ve won four drivers’ championships and two constructors’. It’s been unbelievable and also, of course, something you’ll never forget.

“I said it would be insane to win here today, also for Honda on their track as well. So maybe it gave that extra motivation to try to stay ahead. But it’s a proper send-off. I mean, we couldn’t have wished for a better weekend, to be honest.”

Perhaps having Tsunoda on the podium too would have been the only way to top the last 24 hours from a Honda perspective, but from a Red Bull one its main priority is Verstappen’s pursuit of a fifth consecutive title.

Closing the gap to Norris to just a solitary point after three races provides a clear indication that the team and car can be a threat even while not operating at its best. But the team is surely going to be grateful to Verstappen, who made the difference behind the wheel to ensure he’s firmly in that spotlight for sporting reasons heading to Bahrain.

Lando Norris believes McLaren could have tried something different with its strategy in the Japanese Grand Prix, but his teammate Oscar Piastri did not complain at the lack of a switch of drivers late in the race.

Max Verstappen led from pole position and had Norris for close company approaching the first round of pit stops, with Piastri stopping first of the leading trio to try and cover off any threat of being jumped by cars behind. When Verstappen then came into the pits a lap later, Norris followed him in, and says that made for a tough race as there was no tire offset to allow him to try and fight the Red Bull more effectively.

“I could see Max quite clearly for the whole race, but just couldn’t make any inroads from that point onwards,” Norris said. “So I think him in clean air was enough to stay in that position and he didn’t make any mistakes. He drove a good race. The race was won yesterday in hindsight, and I guess we always kind of know the better position you start, the more chance you have of winning.

“I think our pace was probably slightly better, but not enough to get through the dirty air — kind of get into the DRS, and then passing is a whole other story because it’s pretty much impossible to pass here. I think it was a good race.

“We tried some things. Maybe we could have tried a bit more with strategy. Overcut or undercut — we just boxed on the same lap for some reason. So some things we’ll discuss, but good points for us as a team. Decent points for me. Of course, would have liked a little bit more, but have to take second sometimes.”

Piastri appeared to be the quicker of the McLarens in the second part of the race and regularly got within DRS range of Norris, but when he informed the team he felt he could attack Verstappen if Norris could go no quicker, McLaren opted against swapping positions.

“On the pit stop timing, [George] Russell had pitted I think the lap before and [Charles] Leclerc wasn’t that far behind, and we didn’t really know what the undercut power was going to be like,” he said. “And we’d gone a fair way into the race on the mediums anyway. So I think from my side there wasn’t anything that was obviously wrong with what we did.

“Then at the end, I said what I felt [on team radio]. Clearly the team were happy with the way things were. I mean, if I was in Lando’s position, I would also be pretty happy with the way things were. So that’s fine. Just said what I felt in the car and that’s how we want to go racing.”

Max Verstappen beat Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri to victory at the Japanese Grand Prix after a contentious pit lane incident and a McLaren team orders controversy.

Verstappen angled his car towards Norris from pole position on the grid to chop the Briton off on the run down to the first turn. Holding the middle of the road to take the racing line, the Dutchman held the first place ahead of an unchanged top 10.

With a one-stop strategy anticipated, the first stint of the race was cagey, with no big gaps opening through the field.

It took George Russell to force open the pit window for the frontrunners with a stop from fifth on lap 19, prompting Oscar Piastri to cover from third on the following lap.

The threat of the Australian, who had been shadowing the leaders, prompted both Verstappen and Norris to pit on the same lap.

It was an unusual strategic play from the British team with Norris just 1.4s off the lead.

Red Bull serviced Verstappen in 3.3s, but McLaren was faster, changing Norris’s four tires in just 2.3s to send him back into pit lane with around half a car of overlap.

Verstappen, marginally ahead, held his line exiting pit lane as the exit jinked to the left. It had the effect of forcing Norris to choose whether to filter behind him or run onto the grass. The Briton chose the latter, but it was ineffective, dropping him to second anyway.

Both drivers vociferously argued their points over team radio, but the stewards decided no investigation was necessary.

The gaps stabilized between the top three, who spent the opening phase of the second stint spread across around 3s.

By lap 34, however, Piastri had had enough. He put his foot down to string together some personal-best sectors, and by lap 40 he was within 0.6s of his teammate.

“I think I have the pace to get Max,” Piastri said two laps later, suggesting that he be allowed past Norris to pursue the lead.

Despite the team replying that Norris was going as fast as he could, McLaren left its two cars in position.

Norris strung together some personal-best sectors of his own in reply, but it wasn’t enough to get close to Verstappen. After a pause in his assault, Piastri redoubled his efforts, getting to within 0.5s of the sister car, but around this narrow track even DRS wasn’t enough to pass equal machinery.

With the two McLaren cars battling among themselves, Verstappen as free to set his own pace the checkered flag, taking his first victory of the season by 1.4s.

“It was tough,” he said. “Just pushing very hard, especially on the last set.

“The two McLarens were pushing me very hard.

“I’m incredibly happy. It started off quite tough this weekend, but we didn’t give up. We kept improving the car, and today it was in its best form.”

Norris locked up into the final chicane on the last lap and cut the corner – “cheeky,” radioed Piastri – but the Briton held the place to finish second ahead of his teammate by just 0.7 seconds.

“I guess I just lost out yesterday,” he said. “Max drove a good race today, no mistakes, and the pace was too similar today [between the cars] to do anything more.”

He described his run-in with Verstappen in pit lane as a racing incident.

“He was still ahead,” he said. “Max is the last guy I expect to give me any space – in a good way and in a racing way.”

Piastri rued starting third at a track that makes overtaking difficult.

“I felt like I had really strong pace and if I had the track position, I could go and get Max, but that’s what happens when you qualify behind, unfortunately,” he said.

“At least I asked the question. I think that was a fair response. I think it was a good race, and that’s how we want to go racing.”

The top six were unchanged from their starting positions, with Charles Leclerc finishing fourth ahead of Mercedes teammates George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who became the youngest driver to lead a Formula 1 race during the pit stop window in the middle of the race and the youngest driver to record a fastest lap.

Lewis Hamilton passed Isack Hadjar for seventh on lap 6, and both drivers held those places to the end of the race, the latter scoring his first points in Formula 1.

Alex Albon and Oliver Bearman finished where they started in ninth and 10th to score the final points of the grand prix.

Fernando Alonso led home local favorite Yuki Tsunoda in his Red Bull Racing debut, the Japanese star gaining two places after a lackluster qualifying session left him down the order.

Pierre Gasly finished 13th ahead of Carlos Sainz, Jack Doohan and Nico Hulkenberg.

Liam Lawson, Esteban Ocon and Gabriel Bortoleto finished 17th to 19th after contrastrategies that had them make their sole stops late in the race, but to no gain.

Lance Stroll finished last and a lap down for Aston Martin as the only driver to make two pit stops.

“Only he can do it.”

High praise indeed for Max Verstappen, especially when it came from a smiling multiple world champion.

Fernando Alonso did not hide his admiration when Verstappen crossed the line and bested the two McLaren drivers to pole position at Suzuka. The Spaniard has long been a fan of Verstappen’s abilities, but even he appeared to be doubly impressed by what he had just seen.

“He’s an outstanding driver,” Alonso said. “He’s proving it every weekend. Hats off for him. I think the lap he did today is only down to him. I think the car is clearly not at the level to fight for pole or even the top five. But he manages to do magical laps and magical weekends. At the moment, he’s the best — he’s the reference for all of us, and we need to keep improving to reach that level.”

It really was a remarkable lap. Verstappen had no right to be in the mix for pole position, and I don’t think anyone in the right minds would have picked him as the Q3 runs began. Even though it’s Max Verstappen.

But the way he not only committed so much to his qualifying lap, but he executed too, was stunning to watch.

Let’s not ignore the fact that both McLaren drivers could have beaten that late time. Maybe they even should have beaten that lap time. Had Lando Norris put together his first lap better then he would have been in position to attack his final run with less jeopardy, and Oscar Piastri’s sub-par first sector proved too costly to negate, despite the fastest overall next two sectors.

But they didn’t, and it’s hard to find many other drivers who would have been capable of giving them such a time to better than Verstappen had in the first place.

“We seemed to have a very competitive car today,” McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said. “Strong laps by both Lando and Oscar in Q1 and Q2, [and] in the first run of Q3 by Oscar. So it looked like we were on the way to pole position. Lando managed to improve significantly on his second set…

“But I think with Max I have stopped being surprised. He is such an incredible driver. And for me this is one of the many cases in which we have to just acknowledge and say hats off to Max. Well done in putting together, I guess, what was the potential of his car in conditions that were tricky with the wind and the grip a little inconsistent.

“Even if there was high grip and the lap times are actually I think the fastest times ever in Suzuka — which in itself is for some petrolheads is sort of an interesting piece of data, because actually I discussed this with the engineers and we thought we’re never going to beat the 2019 cars. And instead this happened, which is good.

“It would have been good if it was a McLaren but it’s Max.”

I must admit, I’ve had a feature titled “Verstappen’s primed to do something special” half-written since after the Australian Grand Prix, but have never completed it because other matters at Red Bull have taken over, never more so than this weekend. Maybe it’ll still get finished at some point, but you don’t need telling he might do something special now — he’s shown you he might.

If it goes to form, Verstappen is not going to win on Sunday. The McLaren is clearly quicker over one lap, and has both drivers ready to attack directly behind. The team can utilize the fact it has two cars in the fight — compared to just Verstappen from a Red Bull perspective — to try something different strategically if overtaking appears too tough in the opening part of the race.

But fortunately for all sports fans, competitions don’t always stick to form. The weather looks set to play a part in some way, and Verstappen in the wet is a tough combination to beat regardless of the car he is driving.

Suzuka is also not the easiest track to overtake on — although not impossible — so Verstappen is not likely to wave a McLaren by at any stage. His final stint in China showed that there is a chance his car can compete with any in certain conditions and on certain tire compounds, and that same compound he was quick on is in use this weekend again as the medium.

I’m the first to admit it was boring when Verstappen was winning everything with ease, even if such a level of performance was impressive. The same was true of Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes, whether the car was in a dominant phase or not — seeing the same name at the top of the timing screens at every race weekend is not always the most exciting situation, certainly when it comes to keeping a wider fan base engaged.

But Verstappen starting from pole position this weekend is an extremely enticing one, as it puts the pressure on the two McLaren drivers to do the chasing, as well as finding a way to beat each other.

The weekend started with huge scrutiny for the Red Bull driver situation, and I was also putting the focus on Verstappen’s frustrations with line-up changes when the car clearly has weaknesses that need addressing.

Those weaknesses have not gone away, but Verstappen continues to handle them and has served up the perfect reminder of why Red Bull would make such a brutal move with the Dutchman’s championship chances — and future with the team — in mind.

As Alonso said, he can produce something magical.

The FIA will try to avoid using red flags to attend to any trackside fires during the Japanese Grand Prix, following a number of incidents across the weekend so far.

FP2 on Friday afternoon was interrupted on two occasions by fires starting on the grass next to the Suzuka circuit, following two days featuring high winds but no rain. Those have followed a spell of weather that has left the majority of the grass around the track especially dry, and the second fire spread particularly quickly due to the wind.

Despite the grass being cut shorter in a number of areas on Friday night, there were two further fires on Saturday that had an impact on both sessions.

The fires have been caused by sparks from the cars igniting the grass, and Gabriel Bortoleto dipped two wheels off the track approaching 130R in FP3, with a fire appearing at the same location seconds later.

After another interruption during qualifying — with Q2 halted for a number of minutes — the FIA has explained its intended approach should there be any repeat incidents during the race. The preferred approach will be to attend to the issue under Virtual Safety Car (VSC) if the field is still closely bunched enough, otherwise a safety car will be used to bring the field close together and allow personnel to attend to the flames.

Those approaches are only in the event of small incidents. Should a fire be spreading too quickly, a red flag will be used as a last resort, with race control keen to avoid completely neutralizing the race if possible.

The idea of intentionally scorching the grass was considered but dismissed based on the weather forecast which predicts rain at some stage on Sunday morning, potentially close to the race start time. As a result, officials are hopeful that the moisture will prevent further outbreaks, while circuit staff have been working late into the night cutting the grass even shorter and clearing away the excess.

Lando Norris expects the Japanese Grand Prix to be “nerve-racking” due to the weather, as he looks to overhaul Max Verstappen to fight for victory.

Verstappen took a shock pole position on Saturday with his final lap of qualifying, edging out Norris by just 0.012s and Oscar Piastri by 0.044s. The McLaren pair had been quickest up to that point but will start from second and third in a race that is looking increasingly likely to be impacted by rain, something Norris knows could present both challenges and opportunities.

“No one knows what the weather is going to be like tomorrow, so no point trying to think of too many things,” Norris said. “We’ll do our homework tonight. It’s probably going to be a bit of a race like Melbourne, and that was an exciting race for everyone.

“Now I’ve got to try and do some overtakes, so we’ll see. It’s exciting. I think the unknown of the weather is going to make it exciting and nerve-racking for everyone, and I’ve got to try to get past the guy on my left [Verstappen], so I’m excited.”

Norris says the McLaren is much more to his liking at Suzuka than in China where he finished second to Piastri, but acknowledges he didn’t find enough time in Q3 after going wide on his first run, leaving the door open for Verstappen’s lap.

“I went two tenths quicker than the Q2 lap, so not enough, but just a little bit. It’s a track where you just kind of chip away in different areas … and commit a bit more in those high-speed corners.

“But I was pretty happy with my lap, honestly. I tried pushing on a good amount more in Q3 Run 1 and it didn’t work out clearly, so I just had to kind of peg it back a lot. I was happy with the balance and happy with the car at the end.

“The margin is so small – I think it was a hundredth in it – but just not enough for pole.”

There were similar sentiments from Piastri, who felt he missed out on pole position due to a poor first sector, that he couldn’t make up despite being fastest throughout the rest of the lap.

“It wasn’t my best, sector one – I think I lost a little bit of time compared to the first lap of Q3,” Piastri said. “And when the gap’s four hundredths [of a second] from 1st to 3rd, you think about it quite a bit.

“I’ve been pretty comfortable through qualifying. I think the first lap of Q3 was a good one, the second one just a little bit off the mark in a couple of places.

“I’ve had to dial myself in a bit more this weekend than I did last race and it’s taken a bit longer to get there. But looking at the margins and how it performed, I’ve been pretty happy. Just those little margins – when it’s so tight – make all the difference, clearly.”

Isack Hadjar’s qualifying session at the Japanese Grand Prix was almost derailed by tight seatbelts around his groin, but he bounced back to secure starting spot on the fourth row.

The Racing Bulls rookie was complaining about discomfort in the cockpit during FP3, and he duly radioed early in Q1 to inform his engineer that the issue was still there as qualifying started. Despite the team being unable to rectify it during the first part of the session, Hadjar managed to advance to Q2, and once the problem was resolved he impressed to set the seventh fastest time overall.

“It’s a bit tight around the groin,” Hadjar said of the issue. “I was just playing with the belt, and in Q1, of course, you don’t have time to jump back out, so I had to deal with it and pull through to Q2. But yes, when I came back in the car, with the belt back on, it was all good.”

While he praised the team’s ability to get him comfortable during the session, Hadjar was still not totally satisfied with his result as he didn’t feel he took full advantage of the car at his disposal.

“This [seat belt fix] definitely helped me a lot as I was able to be fully focused on my driving. Overall, I’m really happy about my performance and lap time until the last chicane, as sadly, I lost one tenth there.

“The car is quite predictable. It’s fast as well, it’s efficient, so I just need to do a good lap and it puts me quite high in the rankings.”

With rain forecast on Sunday, Hadjar could face the second wet race in his first three grands prix, but he says he doesn’t expect conditions to be as difficult as in Melbourne, where he crashed out on the formation lap.

“I don’t think there’s tricky white lines on track. It should be easier. I just know sector one with this tarmac, it’s going to be quite tricky. It’s fast in dry conditions, but in the wet, for sure it’s going to be slippery. But, still, in the wet, I feel like I don’t have much experience. But we’ll see how it goes. I’m really excited.”