Seven things we learned from F1 Japanese GP practice

There might suddenly be a huge calendar gap after this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix – but that hasn’t stopped Formula 1 teams from already finding performance gains with their 2026 cars.So after two revealing hours of practice, based on our analysis of the on-track running plus what the drivers and teams said, here’s everything we learned from Friday at Suzuka.A McLaren-Mercedes differenceMcLaren and Mercedes may have the same power unit, but in Japan they are doing things very differently when it comes to how they are using their energy.After Oscar Piastri topped the Friday times from Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli, a closer look at their data exposed alternative approaches in unleashing their battery power.The McLaren was going full beans down the start-finish straight and was much quicker through Turn 1 – giving it a hefty advantage at the start of the lap.Mercedes was electing to hold back on using its deployment for the back straight run from Spoon to 130R, allowing it to haul itself back to within touching distance of the McLaren.The difference then came down in the exit from the chicane – as McLaren was able to unleash power that Mercedes did not have as it was regularly hitting its recharge limit.This different approach between cars that end up with similar laptimes opens the door for some yo-yo raci …