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Formula 1 Japanese GP

2014 Japanese Grand Prix Friday - Practice

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Red flag
We have a red flag.
Alonso goes seventh in the Ferrari.
Wurz sees the funny side of these crashes, but his comments ring true with a lot of fans who hate to see drivers get away with using asphalt run-offs at so many circuits today.

Suzuka has had a few of its gravel traps replaced, but compared to most tracks it's still one of the most punishing if a driver makes an error.
Massa also completes a flyer in the other Wiliams and goes fifth.
Bottas's first run puts his Williams third. He was flying in the early sectors but slowed for Ricciardo's yellows at the chicane exit.
Gutierrez moves up to sixth in the Sauber, but expect bigger changes immediately as more frontrunners begin laps.
That crash was an example of how much power these 2014 F1 engines can produce. Ricciardo tried to save it once he got out of shape, locking the front wheels just before his car made it to the gravel (and the wall).
He's back in the garage now, talking with his mechanics.
Ricciardo was slow through the final chicane before that crash - as he was ramping up to starting a timed lap.

Vettel has been on the radio asking "is Daniel OK?".
Despite that accident, Ricciardo remains on top of the times for now, though we haven't yet seen proper flat-out runs from Vettel, the Ferraris, Williams or Mercedes. The yellows for Ricciardo, Vergne and Kobayashi's dramas haven't helped there.
Ricciardo is unhurt but there's quite a lot of damage to the left-front of his car.
The Red Bull ran wide on the way out of the chicane, had a twitch mid-corner, then slewed across the gravel into the barriers.
Crash
Pacesetter Ricciardo has crashed at the final corner.
The Toro Rosso has stopped at the top of the esses, just on the outside of the track. Not an easy place to recover a car from, but after a few struggles the marshals have got it hooked up to the tractor and carry it away.
Yellow flag
Vergne's Toro Rosso has stopped in the esses. He's got slightly further round that section than Verstappen did when he suffered an engine failure in the same section of track in FP1.

That's bad news for Vergne, who needed to make up for the track time he lost by handing his car to Verstappen for the morning.
Vettel's programme also demands a gentle start, as he laps 12.6s down on pacesetting team-mate Ricciardo.
A quiet first lap from Raikkonen, who is 6.6s off the pace on his first run.
Stopwatch
Ricciardo goes fastest, though only by 0.092s over Magnussen with his 1m37.186s.
Magnussen locks up at the hairpin, although surprisingly it was the outside front wheel that was first to lock up. He just about keeps it inside the white lines.
Sutil's first proper lap puts him fifth, between the Lotus pair.
Should see more action up front soon, with both Red Bulls and Nico Rosberg among those out.
Maldonado moves up to fifth place, half a second behind Lotus team-mate Grosjean, who is fourth.
Kobayashi is back in the Caterham garage, and he doesn't seem to upset as he shares a joke or two with his crew about the accident.
Button reports on the radio that he's not getting the beep in his ear to tell him when DRS is available. McLaren responds saying that they can't fix that mid-run, so will have to deal with it when he returns to the pits.
Magnussen sets a new best in the final sector, but with yellows still out around the first part of the track, it's not an overall gain.
Kobayashi (just before crashing), Ericsson and Maldonado are the only other drivers who have set times so far.
As the home hero gets a scooter ride back to the pits, the Japanese marshals get to work in recovering the car - which has been collected by a tractor.
Not a lot of action from the frontrunners yet. The order is: 1 Magnussen; 2 Kvyat; 3 Button; 4 Grosjean; 5 Bianchi; 6 Chilton.
Wow - replays show it was a strange off. The back end just got away from Kobayashi as he turned left to start the esses, and then it snapped back the other way and sent him through the gravel and into the tyre wall.
Kobayashi's car is facing the wrong way, and it looks like a strange place to have spun.
Kvyat rapidly interrupts the McLaren 1-2 by going second, half a second off Magnussen.
Now a McLaren 1-2, as Button goes second, 0.7s off his team-mate.
The Caterham has crashed at the start of the esses.
Stopwatch
Magnussen deposes Grosjean with a 1m37.278s to go quickest by 1.2s.
Yellow flag
Kobayashi is in the barriers.
Kobayashi goes into second between Grosjean and Chilton.
Stopwatch
Grosjean sets the initial pace with a 1m38.440s, 10.8s up on a tentative lap from Chilton.
Grosjean runs wide at the hairpin, but the banking helps him out and prevents it from becoming too big a moment.
Both McLarens, Jules Bianchi's Marussia, Marcus Ericsson's Caterham and Daniil Kvyat's Toro Rosso are next to join in.

By: AUTOSPORT staff, Glenn Freeman, Matt Beer, Ben Anderson

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