Liam Lawson has got one over his Red Bull rival, finishing fifth fastest in the second practice session at the Japan Grand Prix at Suzuka, 0.445secs back from Australian Oscar Piastri.
Piastri finished top for McLaren with 1m 28.114s in what was a heavily disrupted session with four red flags throughout, Red Bull's Yuki Tsunoda finishing back in 18th.
Lawson was also faster than world champion Max Verstappen who finished eighth.
A total of 38 minutes were lost due to two crashes and two grass fires in a frustrating hour for drivers.
All eyes have been on the rivalry between Lawson and Japanese driver Tsunoda.
Lawson was dropped last week to Red Bull's junior team Racing Bulls after just two races, with Tsunoda promoted for his home Grand Prix at Suzuka.
However, there will be few lessons taken from the practice sessions,
The red flags first come out for Jack Doohan, who crashed heavily at the first corner, thankfully the Australian was able to make it out of his heavily damaged Alpine on his own accord.
A further three followed Fernando Alonso spinning out on what was proving a tricky corner and two grass fires, the second coming with just 10 seconds remaining.
Qualifying for Sunday's race takes place tomorrow.
It's been a disastrous start to the F1 season for Lawson, who crashed out in the wet in Melbourne and finished last twice in Shanghai to dramatically lose his seat.
He made a solid start in the first of practice sessions, finishing 13th, 0.987s off the fastest being Lando Norris of McLaren.
