Max Verstappen underlined his status as favourite for pole position for the Japanese Grand Prix by topping FP3, with team-mate Sergio Perez backing up Red Bull’s supremacy in second place.

Verstappen was second fastest for much of the session after Red Bull opted for medium Pirellis on both cars for its first set of runs. At that stage, he was 0.128s slower than soft-shod Lewis Hamilton before the timesheets were shaken up by qualifying simulations.