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Kimi Antonelli, the Mercedes driver, was the fastest during the final practice session for the Japanese Grand Prix.
On Saturday, March 28, the Italian driver, who started the F1 season on a high note, left his team mate George Russell behind by a little over a quarter for a second.
Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc was third on the scoreboard with 0.867 seconds off, while Oscar Piastri secured fourth rank.
While Ferrari was leading in the opening phases of the session, Antonelli took control when he bolted on a set of Soft tyres and delivered a lap of 1:30.418 before improving it to 1:29.929.
Moreover, Lewis Hamilton, who just yesterday shared his frustration with the car at Suzuka, managed to be in the top five.
Despite suffering an issue with the car's Energy Recovery System (ERS) at the start of the session, world champion Lando Norris was sixth, with 1.238 seconds behind the race leader.
In a surprise turn of events, Nico Hülkenberg was seventh for Audi, with the German's time of 1:30.658 putting him 0.252 seconds ahead of Max Verstappen.
The Dutchman has been facing issues with his car at the Suzuka Circuit, as he highlighted concerns regarding both understeer and oversteer at various points, as well as troublesome downshifts.
Gabriel Bortoleto took P9 in the second Audi, and the top 10 order was completed by Alpine's Pierre Gasly, who finished with a best time of 1:31.082, over 1.7s off the pace.
Moreover, Oliver Bearman came close to a shocking incident, as he suffered a massive spin but managed to save the car from crashing.
