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Max Verstappen has snubbed Mercedes in his predictions for qualifying at the Japanese Grand Prix, claiming that he sees McLaren and Ferrari as the biggest threats ahead of Saturday’s action.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Dutch driver endured a difficult outing in Singapore last weekend, failing to reach Q3 before recovering to finish fifth, comfortably out of the picture for the victory.\u00a0<\/p>\n
However, Red Bull’s star man was back to his unflappable best on Friday in Japan, finishing at the top of the timing sheets in both FP1 and FP2 as he sets himself up for a dominant weekend at Suzuka.<\/p>\n
Verstappen was six-tenths faster than second-best Carlos Sainz in FP1, before finishing three-tenths to the good on his Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc in the second practice session of the day.<\/p>\n
Click here to join our WhatsApp community to be the first to receive breaking and exclusive F1 news.<\/strong><\/p>\n Don’t miss… <\/strong> Hamilton puts Mercedes chief on the spot as Verstappen thrives in Japan practice[LATEST] <\/strong><\/p>\n Speaking to Sky Sports<\/em> about his start to the weekend, Verstappen said: “Yeah it felt really good today. From lap one the car was enjoyable to drive again and it seems like we had a strong day on the short runs [and] long runs.<\/p>\n “There is a lot of degradation so [it] will be quite tough I think on tyres in the race, but yeah so far I think we have a good start to the weekend.”<\/p>\n The Dutchman was then asked about who he sees as his biggest rivals for pole position on Saturday, responding: \u201cIt looks like it\u2019s all a bit tight behind me between Ferrari and McLaren are close.<\/p>\n More F1… <\/strong> We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info<\/p>\n “So yeah we\u2019ll have a look but at the end of the day we just focus on ourselves and try to optimise our performance and then if we do that then I\u2019m confident that we fight for pole.\u201d<\/p>\n Unfortunately for Mercedes, Verstappen doesn’t see the Silver Arrows as a threat, despite the fact that they were fighting for their first victory of the season in Singapore last weekend.<\/p>\n George Russell finished the second practice session in P5, while team-mate Lewis Hamilton was only 14th fastest as the Brackley-based team continue to try to extract performance from the W14 at Suzuka.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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George Russell makes F1 title promise to Mercedes as Singapore crash put in past[MERCEDES] <\/strong><\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/73\/590x\/secondary\/Carlos-Sainz-Ferrari-4972313.jpg?r=1695371424550\")
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