Max Verstappen's Red Bull future continues to be a talking point with Mercedes touted as a future destination - which could spell bad news for their rookie driver

Max Verstappen has doubled down on his decision to “like” an Instagram post accusing Red Bull of “bullying” Liam Lawson.

In the opening practice session at the Japanese Grand Prix – Tsunoda’s home race – he would end the session just a tenth down on Verstappen, while FP2 was a story of red flag stoppages with Jack Doohan suffering a high-impact crash, Fernando Alonso spinning into the gravel and several grass fires igniting.