Lando Norris closed out Japanese Grand Prix practice with the fastest time, just 0.026 seconds ahead of McLaren Formula 1 team-mate Oscar Piastri, as the session faced two red flags due to grass fires.

McLaren remains the team to beat in Formula 1, but Max Verstappen’s victorious drive for Red Bull at the Japanese Grand Prix showed only excellence is good enough. Ahead of this week’s Bahrain Grand Prix, here are five takeaways from Suzuka:

Jacques Villeneuve criticised McLaren’s F1 strategy in Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix as Max Verstappen claimed victory at Suzuka. Pole-sitter Verstappen maintained the net lead throughout the entire 53-lap race,