The Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli has been released from the garage and the Italian lifts himself above Oscar Piastri and Charles Leclerc to sit fastest with a 1:30.035. George Russell didn't seem to get a good opening lap and ends up fifth on the timesheets, which now turns to seventh.

Russell comes on the team radio to highlight issues with his car to the pit wall.

Image source, Getty Images

Lewis Hamilton splits the papaya pair to go second on the timesheets, seconds before his Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc shoots to the top with a time of 1:30.078. Hamilton is now third, with Oscar Piastri the piggy in the middle of the Scuderia pair.

If you're a Lando Norris fan, your man is out on track after troubles with the battery in final practice. The world champion goes second fastest, 0.238 seconds behind McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri.

Image source, gett

With more teams on the grid this year - hello, Cadillac - the six slowest cars will be given the boot in Q1 and Q2. The Racing Bulls are out and Arvid Lindblad puts the first time on the board with a 1:31.634. Everyone has ventured out on the soft C3 compound.

Jennie Gow
F1 pit-lane reporter at Suzuka

When it comes to the fight for pole position, you have got to get things so right when it comes to these cars: the energy deployment, the warm-up, how you get your opening lap away before you do your fast lap. These are complex cars and this is only the third race. So, when it comes to qualifying, do we have a fight on our hands? I think so.

Japanese Grand Prix qualifying is under way at Suzuka!

Q1 is green.

BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

Jennie Gow, Harry Benjamin, British racing driver Alice Powell and F1 correspondent Andrew Benson are back with us for qualifying, so click the 'listen live' tab at the top of this page, ask your smart speaker to "play Sports Extra" or tune in to commentary on the go via the BBC Sounds app.

Image source, Getty Images

History was made at the Chinese Grand Prix a fortnight ago when Kimi Antonelli became the youngest driver to set pole position in Formula 1 at the age of 19, beating the previous record held by four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel, who claimed his maiden pole at the 2008 Italian Grand Prix aged 21.

Antonelli said things might have been different in Shanghai had team-mate George Russell, who won the sprint earlier in the day, not suffered with a few issues in towards the end of qualifying. Russell's front wing broke at the end of Q2 then he stopped on track at the beginning of Q3. The remainder of the session was "damage limitation", said Russell, but he still managed to nap a seat on the front row alongside Italian Antonelli.

The Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc locked out the second row in third and fourth.

Image source, Getty Images

Audi had both their drivers in the top 10 in third practice, as Nico Hulkenberg was joined by Brazilian team-mate Gabriel Bortoleto, who was ninth.

The German team are without a proper team principal at the Japanese Grand Prix, after Jonathan Wheatley left with immediate effect last week for "personal reasons", according to an Audi statement.

The 58-year-old Englishman has been approached by Aston Martin to become their team principal.

Aston Martin team owner Lawrence Stroll wants Wheatley to run the race team under managing technical partner Adrian Newey.

Wheatley joined Audi a year ago and has been based at its chassis headquarters in Hinwil in Switzerland. Among the reasons for his desire to move on is said to be the appeal of a return to the UK.

For Audi, Mattia Binotto will take on the responsibilities of team principal in addition to his role as head of its F1 project.

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has had a smile on his face since the season started and after third practice on Saturday, he had a chat with Sky Sports about his two drivers fighting for glory in the new era of Formula 1.

"The form [Russell and Antonelli] are in surprised us," said Wolff. "The biggest gain we had in that session was through the 'S' bends and the corners. George made a mistake and he probably would've been quicker if he hadn't. Every race increases your confidence, that's hopefully the case and to see these two battling is great."

Wolff also gave his views on McLaren's struggles with their Mercedes engine, saying: "There was a car issue, sometimes you have a sequence of failures that happen. It's not good, not something we like to see on any of the cars, but there's obviously learning from this, the regulations are young.

"When you've been in Formula E, you learn about energy and harvesting it. The learning curve is going to be steep for other teams but give it some time and things will adjust. I'd like to score some points now but there is a charm to having four weeks not travelling.

Jennie Gow
F1 pit-lane reporter at Suzuka

Lando Norris has been affected by some kind of issue with his car 10 out of the 13 sessions so far this season. That has to be more than bad luck.

Image source, Getty Images

It's been a tough start to the Suzuka weekend for world champion Lando Norris following his retirement before the Chinese Grand Prix even began two weeks ago.

The Briton missed the first half of second practice on Friday with a hydraulic leak and today he was kept waiting in the garage as the mechanics raced to fix an issue with the energy-recovery system.

Despite fears he might not make it out for FP3, Norris joined the action with enough time left to put his car sixth on the timehseets, one place behind the Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton and above the Audi of Nico Hulkenberg.

Kimi Antonelli speaking to Sky Sports: "I want to be in this fight, we've got a great car and opportunity. One thing I'm lacking is experience. It's only my second year, experience is one thing you can't buy. I'm going to try and be ready for everything and every kind of situation and put myself in the best situation as possible."

Image source, Getty Images

Kimi Antonelli is the one to watch today, as the Italian teenager continued his good form from Shanghai with another quick display in Suzuka practice.

The 19-year-old was 0.254 seconds faster than team-mate George Russell, with the two Mercedes cars miles ahead of the rest of the field. Charles Leclerc spent a few moments at the top of the timesheets but the Ferrari man ended his session more than eight tenths adrift of Antonelli's best time.

Oscar Piastri has failed to complete a racing lap this season following his DNS in Australia and China but the McLaren driver put his car fourth earlier on, a day after topping second practice on Friday.

Lorraine McKenna
BBC Sport Journalist

Image source, Getty Images

Good morning, folks. The focus up and down the pit lane now is either on the fight for pole position or the scrap to make it out of Q1.

Mercedes are heavy favourites to lock out the front row at the legendary Suzuka circuit after claiming a one-two finish in third practice. Kimi Antonelli has the edge over team-mate George Russell so far, with the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc just waiting in the wings to pounce if the two Silver Arrows drivers slip up.

The qualifying green light will be switched on at 06:00 GMT.

Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent at Suzuka

Image source, Getty Images

Kimi Antonelli led George Russell in a Mercedes one-two in final practice at the Japanese Grand Prix.

Antonelli, who was also quicker than his team-mate on Friday, was 0.254 seconds clear of the Briton in the final session before qualifying.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was third fastest - but the gap between him and Antonelli was a chasm at 0.867secs.

Leclerc was 0.135secs clear of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri in fourth place, with Lewis Hamilton in the second Ferrari fifth fastest and 0.154secs behind his team-mate.

Lando Norris managed to finish the session sixth despite missing the first 25 minutes of the hour as McLaren sought to fix a problem with his energy-recovery system.

It was the third hybrid-related issue to afflict McLaren in two races, after both cars failed to start the last race in China with different battery failures.

Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg was seventh, ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who was unhappy with his car, complaining about high-speed understeer and poor gearshifts.

Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly completed the top 10.

Image source, Getty Images

Kimi Antonelli tops third practice in Japan but can the Chinese Grand Prix winner overcome Mercedes team-mate George Russell and secure back-to-back pole positions for the first time in his career?

Following his battery issues in this session, what will qualifying bring world champion Lando Norris? And will Ferrari be able to challenge the Silver Arrows' dominance?

We'll find out at 06:00 GMT.

Go and take a quick cat nap and then come back and join us for build-up at 05:30.

See you shortly!

11. Isack Hadjar (Red Bull)

12. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls)

13. Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls)

14. Esteban Ocon (Haas)

15. Oliver Bearman (Haas)

16. Alex Albon (Williams)

17. Franco Colapinto (Alpine)

18. Carlos Sainz (Williams)

19. Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac)

20. Sergio Perez (Cadillac)

21. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)

22. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)

Alice Powell
British racing driver on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

Mercedes are a chunk ahead. That's a good, decent-sized gap they have ahead of Ferrari. Piastri sneaking in ahead of Lewis Hamilton and splitting the Ferraris. If Mercedes aren't on pole I will be extremely shocked.

1. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) - 1:29.362

2. George Russell (Mercedes) +0.254

3. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +0.867

4. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) +1.002

5. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) +1.021

6. Lando Norris (McLaren) +1.238

7. Nico Hulkenberg (Audi) +1.296

8. Max verstappen (Red Bull) +1.548

9. Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi) +1.638

10. Pierre Gasly (Alpine) +1.720