FP1: Verstappen is confidently ahead of Sainz and Norris in the opening training in Japan | Formula 1®
Max Verstappen and Red Bull returned to their pace-setting form in the first hour of the race in Japan as the Dutch racer set the pace early in first practice and comfortably led rivals Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris.
Just five days after an action-packed evening in Singapore, the drivers headed to Japan for the second race of the double-header. But unlike Singapore, where it was hot and humid, Suzuka had slightly cooler conditions.
LIVE BROADCAST: Follow all the action from first practice to the Japanese Grand Prix
As the lights turned green to kick off the weekend’s action, it was Verstappen who led the way as Red Bull looked to make a push to get back to winning ways after a difficult outing in Singapore.
In addition, in this session the teams would also test the new version of the C2 tire ahead of the next season. This meant that all drivers were handed two additional sets of tires compared to the usual 13, with all teams in the session running the prototype tire.
And after the first 20 minutes of the race, Verstappen was in the lead, as his time of 1:32.442 minutes on the prototype tire was 0.724 seconds faster than second-place Fernando Alonso.
Then we saw how many laps were driven on the soft tires, with Verstappen once again setting the time to beat. With his lap time of 1:31.647 minutes, he was at the top of the timesheets in the first training session, while his nearest rival, Sainz, was 0.626 seconds behind the best time.
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Norris managed late to take third place for McLaren, ahead of Leclerc, who made it into the top four with two Ferraris despite being three tenths quicker than his teammate Sainz. Meanwhile, home favorite Yuki Tsunoda impressed and took fifth place for AlphaTauri.
Alonso finished sixth for Aston Martin, ahead of Oscar Piastri – who had just signed his new contract extension with McLaren – the Williams of Alex Albon and the AlphaTauri of Liam Lawson.
Drivers tested the new version of the C2 tire in FP1 in Japan ahead of next season
Lance Stroll was off track again after missing the Singapore GP due to precautionary measures following his crash in qualifying, and was 10th for Aston Martin, ahead of the second Red Bull of Sergio Perez, which was 11th. fell behind.
Pierre Gasly was the leading Alpine driver in 12th, ahead of George Russell’s Mercedes – although he and his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton were not on the soft tires – and Nico Hulkenberg’s Haas in 13th.
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Esteban Ocon was 15th in the other Alpine car, ahead of Hamilton, the Alfa Romeo of Valtteri Bottas and the Haas of Kevin Magnussen. Logan Sargeant finished 19th for Williams, while Zhou Guanyu brought up the rear of the field for Alfa Romeo.
Drivers will now look at the data and discuss with their teams before preparing for the second practice session in Japan today at 3:00 p.m. local time.