Ferrari FP1 Telemetry: Leclerc struggles in turns 1/2 and hairpin but edges Norris in Esses | F1 Japan GP. Key performance insights from FP1 session at Suzuka.

The Japanese Grand Prix began as expected, with Lando Norris leading the first free practice session. The McLaren driver set the fastest time of 1’28″549, edging out George Russell’s Mercedes by 163 thousandths.

The Ferrari cars of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton currently occupy the virtual second row, though the gap is significant. The Monegasque, in particular, encountered traffic from Nico Hülkenberg’s Haas at the chicane in the third sector during his best lap. At the moment, the Monegasque driver is 416 thousandths behind Lando Norris, while Lewis Hamilton trails by half a second (502 thousandths). Both reported some understeer in corners with their SF-25 cars.

An analysis of telemetry data highlights two key weak points for Charles Leclerc and Ferrari in a single lap: Turn 1 and the hairpin at Turn 11. The hairpin was already suspected to be a weak spot for Ferrari ahead of the weekend, as the SF-25 still struggles with slow corners. However, Turn 1-2 is a more surprising issue, despite being a particularly tricky section— a long right-hander that gradually transitions from fast to slow.

Charles Leclerc lost between a tenth and a tenth and a half in Turn 1-2, then dropped another tenth at the hairpin. However, in the Esses section, the Ferrari driver was faster than Lando Norris by five hundredths of a second.