Third practice for the 2017 Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix, the 16th round of the season, took place at Suzuka Circuit.
Valtteri Bottas was fastest with a 1:29.055. Lewis Hamilton was second, 0.014 seconds behind, followed by Sebastian Vettel in third, 0.324 seconds off the pace.
The top five were Valtteri Bottas, Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel, Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo, in that order. Mercedes and Red Bull each had two drivers in the top five, with one for Ferrari.
Max Verstappen was fourth, 0.855 seconds behind the leader, while fifth-placed Daniel Ricciardo was 0.963 seconds adrift.
Jolyon Palmer completed the top ten, 1.709 seconds slower than the session leader.
Pierre Gasly completed the most laps with 25, while Valtteri Bottas ran the fewest with nine.
At the lower end of the classification, Pierre Gasly was 16th, Romain Grosjean 17th, Marcus Ericsson 18th, Pascal Wehrlein 19th and Kimi Räikkönen 20th. The times and completed lap counts in the table follow the official classification for this session.
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time / Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1:29.055 | 9 |
| 2 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | +0.014s | 19 |
| 3 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | +0.324s | 23 |
| 4 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | +0.855s | 15 |
| 5 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | +0.963s | 13 |
| 6 | Esteban Ocon | Force India | +1.054s | 12 |
| 7 | Nico Hülkenberg | Renault | +1.260s | 19 |
| 8 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren | +1.369s | 13 |
| 9 | Sergio Pérez | Force India | +1.508s | 12 |
| 10 | Jolyon Palmer | Renault | +1.709s | 22 |
| 11 | Felipe Massa | Williams | +1.709s | 21 |
| 12 | Stoffel Vandoorne | McLaren | +1.715s | 18 |
| 13 | Carlos Sainz | Toro Rosso | +1.744s | 23 |
| 14 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | +1.927s | 12 |
| 15 | Lance Stroll | Williams | +1.956s | 20 |
| 16 | Pierre Gasly | Toro Rosso | +2.298s | 25 |
| 17 | Romain Grosjean | Haas | +2.404s | 13 |
| 18 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber | +3.524s | 22 |
| 19 | Pascal Wehrlein | Sauber | +3.643s | 21 |
| 20 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | +4.907s | 12 |
