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Formula 1
Japanese GP
F1 Japanese GP Live Commentary and Updates - FP1 & FP2
Friday's action from the 16th round of the 2023 Formula 1 season
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Formula 1 arrives in Japan with Red Bull on the verge of clinching the constructors' title despite the setback of Singapore one week ago.
Carlos Sainz's victory under the Marina Bay lights marked the first non-Red Bull race win of the season, but Ferrari must outscore Red Bull by more than 24 points to remain in the championship fight beyond this weekend.
If Mercedes, the team currently second, outscore Red Bull at all, the battle will carryover into Qatar.
Japanese GP first practice starts at 3:30am BST followed by second practice at 7:00am BST.
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Russell moves up to third fastest with a 1m33.806s on the medium tyres - only for Stroll to very quickly displace him by going a tenth quicker.
The early running indicates Red Bull, as almost the entire paddock predicted, are back in its familiar territory at the top of the times, followed by a mix of Alonso's Aston and the pairs of McLarens, Mercedes and Ferraris.
Sargeant continues to get to know Suzuka given it is his first visit, as he runs fractionally off-track at the exit of Degner 2 - or Turn 9 as it is known to others. He gets away without a serious issues and carries on.
Stroll came out for two more laps but is back in the pits and still has no lap time to his name. Tsunoda, who also had a lengthy stint in the garage, is complaining of understeer in his AlphaTauri as he posts his first lap time to go 18th, 3.5s off the outright pace.
Stopwatch
Verstappen, still on the test tyres, goes quicker again with a 1m32.442s.
Sargeant has been off at Turn 17, the exit of the final chicane, but carried on without an issue.
Stopwatch
Alonso splits the Red Bulls to slot into second with a 1m33.166s. Meanwhile Verstappen says Russell "dangerously" positioned his car while on a slow lap through the Suzuka Esses, but no harm done as both continue.
Perez makes it a Red Bull 1-2 but is some 1.2s off his team-mate. Then come the McLaren pair, who now both have the upgrades that only Norris ran in Singapore.
Stopwatch
Verstappen, now on the test tyres, improves his leading lap time with a 1m32.597s to give himself a 1.6s margin on the chasing pack. That'll feel better after his Singapore frustrations.
Stroll, who missed the Singapore GP last time out after his huge qualifying crash, has completed two laps but requested some rear-end car changes so he's back in the pits. As are Albon and Tsunoda, with everyone else notching up the laps.
Stopwatch
After some set-up tweaks of our own we are back to full speed, as Verstappen ups the pace fractionally with a 1m33.354s before pitting after five laps on the hard tyres.
Stopwatch
Each driver has two sets of the test tyre, meaning they all have extra rubber to play with for this weekend so we should see plenty of running. Verstappen leads the early running with a 1m33.719s.
There are a number of early takers in this session, with plenty of drivers on the Pirelli test tyre compounds. Verstappen, though, is on the hards, with plenty of flow-vis on his car.
Green flag
Off we go then, Verstappen leads out the pack from the pitlane to start opening practice.
Suzuka's Turn 2 will be one to watch out for in this session, because it has turned black and yellow. That's for Vettel's bee project, Buzzin' Corner, with the four-time world champion in town to promote his campaign.
Breaking news
Here's a quick round-up on what you might have missed between the Singapore sizzler and today.
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Of course not! There are seven F1 races left this season and two world titles to be wrapped up. Red Bull can pick up the constructors' honours this weekend if results go their way, but Verstappen needs to wait until at least Qatar to clinch the drivers' championship.
Green flag
Gooooood morning one and all! So, the 100% record for Red Bull in 2023 has gone and the record runs have been ended. Not much left to play for, right?
By: Autosport Staff
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