Alice Powell
British racing driver on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

I've noticed that the wind direction is changing quite a lot throughout, certainly the last ten minutes, the wind speed is a bit up and down, so possibly that could be affecting the field of cars. Not what you want on a high speed circuit, especially gusting winds.

"The ride of the car is suddenly a lot worse."

Max Verstappen had to watch the action unfold without him in Melbourne following his retirement from the race with a brake issue but the Red Bull driver is back on top now - although it's only third practice - with a 1:29.563, which is over two-tenths quicker than George Russell.

Alice Powell
British racing driver on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

Max Verstappen now, this is what we've been waiting for, out on the soft tyre, not fastest in the first sector, that's Lando Norris who has just gone purple in the first sector.

George Russell can finally get among the action in his Mercedes. The Briton has been given a set of softs and instantly goes top with a 1:29.918.

But here comes the Red Bull of Max Verstappen...

Image source, Getty Images

Will the Williams behave itself during Alex Albon's first attempt on his soft tyres? The 28-year-old said earlier he has "zero confidence" in the car and he crosses the line to go sixth fastest with a time of 1:30.533.

While teams prepare for the qualifying simulations, let's have a look at what happened last year in Japan.

Max Verstappen put in a stunning performance to set pole position in 2023, beating the McLaren of Oscar Piastri by a massive 0.581 seconds.

Piastri's team-mate Lando Norris qualified in third, Charles Leclerc was fourth and Sergio Perez in the other Red Bull was fifth, 0.773secs slower than Verstappen.

Image source, Getty Images

Alice Powell
British racing driver on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

Red Bull certainly seem the dominant force.

Talking about Lewis Hamilton's pace, it was set fairly early on in the session but so was Max Verstappen's time. Hamilton is just over a tenth quicker than Verstappen, I'm expecting Verstappen when he does bolt on that set of soft tyres, he will obliterate I'm guessing Hamilton's time. Hamilton has done 15 laps completed so far, Verstappen 17 laps, all of those set on the medium tyre.

The Japanese fans are not fussy. Carlos Sainz has been given a free pass to go to any team he likes.

Meanwhile, fellow Spaniard Fernando Alonso is one of the few cars still out track. putting in the some serious laps on the hard compound.

Image source, Getty Images

George Russell needs to keep himself busy for the next few moments, as Mercedes' need to make a few adjustments to his car after his medium run.

Harry Benjamin
BBC F1 Commentator

Yuki Tsunoda on the soft compound of tyre in the RB, he's having a decent session so far, yet again, he was in the top ten in FP1. Tsunoda is looking quite comfortable, he's never scored a point in his home race so far, he will be looking to put that right come Sunday.

While Lewis Hamilton is the man to beat at the top of the timesheets, his team-mate George Russell is way down the pecking order in 20th place. But fear not, as Mercedes say the Briton is "working through a longer run on the mediums on higher fuel".

The two Ferrari drivers are also keeping a low profile in this session. Charles Leclerc, four points behind Max Verstappen in the championship, is sixth and Australian Grand Prix winner Carlos Sainz is 10th.

Harry Benjamin
BBC F1 Commentator

There's a bit of long running going out on track as teams try and make up for the lack of running due to the rain in yesterday's free practice two session.

"I've got quite a lot of understeer."

Max Verstappen is sticking with the medium tyres for now but the Red Bull driver is not feeling comfortable in the RB20. The triple world champion makes a quick phone call to his engineer to say his main concern at the moment is too much understeer.

Gianpiero Lambiase says "understood".

Image source, Getty Images

1. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) - 1:30.065 (soft)

2. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) +0.128 (medium)

3. Lando Norris (McLaren) +0.134 (soft)

4. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) +0.295 (soft)

5. Sergio Perez (Red Bull) +0.388 (medium)

Image source, Getty Images

The sell-out crowd at Albert Park had their phones out to capture the moment Lewis Hamilton had to abandon his W15 and exit the Australian Grand Prix on lap 16 after suffering an engine failure.

It was a miserable weekend for the seven-time world champion, who was also knocked out in the second part of qualifying and started the race down in 11th place.

Fast forward two weeks and things are looking brighter for the W15 Mercedes. "It was a really good session, the best the car has felt this year," said Hamilton.

He added: "It felt really positive. I was excited, because this is a circuit every driver loves to drive and the last couple of years we’ve had a really difficult car and balance to drive here.

"And given the difficult last few races we’ve had, great work has been done and we seem to have hit the ground in a sweeter spot so I haven’t really made any changes."

Hamilton is seven laps in on the soft compound and is still leading the timesheets with a 1:30.065, although Max Verstappen has closed the gap slightly to just over a tenth on his medium tyres.

"Look at the bouncing a little bit, I think it's increased."

Hello to Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. The McLaren drivers have jumped in their cars now and after a couple of laps on the soft tyres sit third and fourth on the timesheets.

Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent

The Aston Martins are both in the same upgraded specification today, they've got a revised side pods, which is very much like the Red Bull's, and new floor and floor edge, these are those curls and flicks that you see half way along the floor, they are really important in the overall air flow of the car.