F1 Japanese GP Live Commentary and Updates - FP1 & FP2
Friday's action from the fourth round of the 2024 Formula 1 season.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz ended the Red Bull and Max Verstappen domination last time out with victory in Australia, but many expect the Dutch driver to fight back this weekend at the iconic Suzuka.
The majority of the F1 paddock also sees the Japanese GP as a place where the true pecking order will be revealed due to the track’s characteristics and demands on the cars.
First practice starts at 3:30am BST follow by second practice at 7am BST.
Bottas creeps into the top 10 with a 1m32.403s on medium tyres, beating his Sauber team-mate Zhou by a couple of tenths. Elsewhere, Albon and Stroll have rejoined the track so we should get some representative lap times from them.
One driver who isn't in the pits is Verstappen, who goes fastest overall with a 1m31.463s set on the hards, three-tenths up on the previous best by Norris.
Stroll and Albon are both still stuck in the garage so we won't expect any lap times from them for the time being. In fact, most drivers are in the pits following their opening runs.
Iwasa's first lap time is a 1m34.803s which puts him in last place and 3s off the pace - but given it is first-ever full lap of Suzuka in an F1 car we will cut him some slack.
After Verstappen posted his first lap time, it means we're just missing Stroll, Iwasa and Albon from the mix. The RB rookie is starting his first timed effort now - what a dream outing this must be for the local star.
Alonso goes joint top - setting a lap time exactly the same as Norris' 1m31.781s - but the McLaren driver keeps first place given he set the lap time earlier in the session.
Verstappen is yet to provide a lap time despite being out on track, and you suspect given his DNF in Australia last time out this will be a race he'll want to make a statement at.
As is customary at Suzuka, there's a lot of traffic build-up around the final three corners as drivers prepare for a lap and inevitably trip over each other. Thankfully nothing too major, but Russell gets in a huff behind a McLaren and a RB.
Norris provides the early leading lap time of 1m32.767s which edges Hamilton by nearly two-tenths of a second with both drivers using the medium compound tyres.
Stroll's Aston is sporting some very big aero rakes on the rear of the car, but on the whole the drivers are getting on with initial set-up work and getting a feel for the old place.
Therefore it is a little cooler than normal but thankfully it is dry as FP1 gets going. Plenty of early takers - including Ayumu Iwasa who is on first practice rookie duty at RB in place of Ricciardo.
If you've got your calendar to hand you'll know this race has moved forward from its usual end-of-season slot to the spring as part of F1's plan to make the calendar more travel friendly/eco smarter.
Sargeant is back in action this weekend after being, er, moved aside after Albon wrecked his car in Australia. The American is racing the repaired Williams F1 car, with Albon still in his one from Australia, and the team will not have a spare car until Miami in May.
There's also plenty of upgrades on show across the pitlane, including Red Bull, which has updated its unique sidepod and air intake system either side of the cockpit. All will be revealed in five minutes when the drivers hit the track.
This is one all the drivers look forward to, as Suzuka is a true test of driver and car like few others on the calendar. Each of them will be looking to build up speed over the three practice sessions and, probably crucially, not make any major early headaches for their teams.
Good morning one and all! Another early start this weekend, but this one is very much worth it. Opening practice for the Japanese GP at Suzuka is a perfect early alarm clock.
