The final practice session at the Japanese Grand Prix was just as eventful as the ones before it, with more strange moments and another strong performance from McLaren. The session began slowly, with only a few drivers heading out when the track opened.

Jack Doohan was one of the first to go out, driving again after his crash the day before. He set the first time on the board but ran a little wide and kicked up some dust. Isack Hadjar only completed two laps before returning to the garage, saying something was wrong inside the car and that it felt quite bad.

Only a few minutes into the session, the red flag was brought out because of a small fire in the grass at Turn 12. This was the fifth red flag of the weekend and the third time that grass near the track had caught fire.

At the time, Max Verstappen was fastest, but only a handful of drivers had managed to set a proper lap. Once the fire was dealt with, the cars lined up at the end of the pit lane ready to go again. McLaren were first in line, and Lewis Hamilton told his team on the radio that they had jumped the queue.

After the restart, the track became much busier. Charles Leclerc went quickest on the soft tyres, followed by his teammate Lewis Hamilton. For a short time, Ferrari were one and two on the timing screens.

A few drivers made small errors. Carlos Sainz and Esteban Ocon both went wide at different corners, and Nico Hulkenberg was unhappy with how a Red Bull came out of the pits just as he was starting a fast lap. Then George Russell put in a quick lap on a fresh set of soft tyres to go to the top. But McLaren had more pace to show. Piastri went fastest again, and Norris followed with an even quicker lap of one minute twenty seven point nine six five seconds.

With just over six minutes left in the session, another red flag came out. This time, Gabriel Bortoleto went off the track and caused yet another grass fire, bringing the session to an early end. It was the fourth grass fire of the weekend and may become a problem for qualifying if it continues.

At the end of practice, Lando Norris was once again fastest for McLaren. Oscar Piastri was close behind in second place. George Russell finished third for Mercedes, with Charles Leclerc in fourth. Max Verstappen was fifth for Red Bull, followed by Lewis Hamilton in sixth. Alex Albon did well to take seventh for Williams. Pierre Gasly was eighth for Alpine, and the top ten was completed by Yuki Tsunoda and Isack Hadjar.