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Japanese GP
F1 Japanese GP Live Commentary and Updates - FP1 & FP2
All of Friday's F1 action from Suzuka ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix.
A week after Singapore, Suzuka also returns to the calendar following a three-year absence, where Max Verstappen can claim a second F1 world title if he is 112 points clear of second place in the standings at the chequered flag.
Sergio Perez won last time out at Singapore, after a faultless drive helped him stave off the intermittent threats of Charles Leclerc.
Suzuka's last race was held in 2019, and was won by Valtteri Bottas - who beat Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton to victory.
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Not to be outdone, Sainz goes marginally quicker on a 1m42.563s, just 0.071s faster. But both are demoted by Alonso who sets a 1m42.248s.
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One driver certainly setting laps is Leclerc, who on his 10th tour goes top again with a 1m42.634s.
So far, only Vettel and the two Mercedes drivers have yet to set a time with 20 minutes of the session remaining.
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It's Ocon's time to shine, posting a 1m43.022s to go top.
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Perez jumps to fourth on a 1m46.248s. Like his Red Bull team-mate, he's also on the green-walled tyre, but is nearly three seconds slower.
It certainly looks like for the time being, inters are the way to go as Esteban Ocon moves into second followed by Bottas.
To prove us completely wrong about the inters, Verstappen moves to the top of the times with a 1m44.059s, smashing the time set by Sainz on the wets.
Latifi has a brief moment in the gravel at the tight left hairpin of Turn 11, but manages to rejoin the circuit.
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He's told by his engineer that they are "expecting the rain to pick up in the next 5-10 minutes". Maybe the inters weren't a good idea...
Champion-elect Max Verstappen ventures out onto the track for the first time in his Red Bull. Not only that, but it's on the intermediate tyres!
At the halfway point in the session, 12 cars have so far set a time. Still, that's 12 more than we expected to have set a time just over 30 minutes ago.
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Sainz sets a new benchmark with a 1m47.758s, over three tenths clear of team-mate Leclerc.
Daniel Ricciardo and Fernando Alonso are the next to set times, moving into third and fourth respectively but behind the Ferrari duo.
There's certainly still a lot of spray, but not so much in the way of standing water.
Despite earlier radio comments from the drivers about the track not being as wet as they thought, no one has switched to intermediate tyres... yet.
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Home hero Tsunoda finally sets a time, a 1m51.191s which places him eighth. The AlpaTauri driver giving the damp fans something to cheer about.
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"I got a PU warning," Lando Norris tells his McLaren team. The Brit is currently fourth on a 1m49.422s.
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But he improves to a 1m49.185s on his next lap to occupy third as things stand.
We mentioned earlier the last time F1 raced at Suzuka was in 2019, when Valtteri Bottas won for Mercedes. Now at the wheel of an Alfa Romeo, he's has just posted a 1m50.546s.
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Sainz jumps into second on the timing screens, a 1m49.952s, but expect times to come tumbling down.
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"I actually think we could already go on inters," says Leclerc over the radio, as he jumps to the top of the times with a 1m49.103s using the wet tyre.
He'd also gone for a flying lap but decides against posting a time and heads for the dry of the Aston Martin garage.
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Stroll on the radio: "The track is quite dry, there's not so much standing water."
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And there it is, the first timed lap of the day. Schumacher sets a 1m52.537s.
Sebastian Vettel, Carlos Sainz, Alex Albon and Charles Leclerc have all headed out as well.
There may be no times on the board yet but at least we're getting some running.
A slide out of the final chicane and Latifi is back in the pits. In his place, Lance Stroll's Aston Martin heads out into the unknown.
Huge balls of spray are being kicked up by the wet tyres as they tiptoe their way around.
Nicholas Latifi is the next driver to head out in his Williams, followed by the second Haas of Mick Schumacher.
Magnussen fancies a second sighting lap though, but again pulls into the pits.
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"There's a couple of rivers" reports Tsunoda. Unsurprisingly, both he and Magnussen pit after one lap.
Not content with staying in the dry, Magnussen is the first to sample the conditions, followed by home hero Yuki Tsunoda.
It's a shame for the enthusiastic and passionate Japanese fans, who have come out in their droves for the chance to watch F1 cars in action for the first time in three years.
But as expected, no one has ventured out yet with rain continuing to fall and large puddles of water on the track
Green flag
FP1 is underway!
Just to prove me wrong, Kevin Magnussen is getting strapped into his Haas so perhaps there's hope yet. Although judging by the images of rain falling we're not optimistic...
Even if the session starts as scheduled, it doesn't look like many drivers will be in a hurry to get out.
As we type that, the safety car has gone out on track to assess conditions. No indication yet of whether the start of the session, due to be 0400, will be delayed.
The good news is, we're back at Suzuka for the first time since 2019. The bad news is there might be little running as conditions are far from ideal with large amounts of water on the circuit.
Well done to all the diehard fans who have got up at this hour of the morning to catch some F1 action
By: autosport.com
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