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Formula 1 Japanese GP

Japanese GP Friday practice

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Green flag
No activity just yet, though. The green light is on but no sign of any cars running.
So there will be 45 minutes of running and you'd expect at least a bit of exploratory running even though conditions are still fairly horrendous.
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The session will begin in seven minutes!

Just under an hour of this to go.
The safety car is out again and having a bit of trouble keeping it on the track - which doesn't bode well for the F1 cars' chances.
Marshals are attempting to deal with an overflowing drain by placing first a traffic cone, then a heavy piece of metal on it. Not too successful.
Some rain

Some rain

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The safety car returns to the pitlane. It'll be sent out to inspect conditions again in 10 minutes.
Sergio Perez isn't expecting to have to drive an F1 car in the near future - he's chilling in Force India hospitality in a pair of jeans.
Huge amounts of spray being kicked up by the safety car as it paddles around the track.
The FIA is about to conduct another track inspection, but with rivers running down the pitlane the chances are that inspection will not result in the session starting.
Jenson Button is back in the paddock this weekend. And currently shaking the hand of a small teddy bear in McLaren hospitality.
A bit of drizzle and a Sainz-induced red flag aside, teams did at least get a full morning of dry running.

Ferrari looked strongest in that - Vettel just 0.042s off Hamilton's super-soft time when running softs and then fastest once on the same rubber.
Ten minutes officially gone in this session, which is yet to begin and looks unlikely to any time soon.
A drain shows how wet the Suzuka afternoon has become

A drain shows how wet the Suzuka afternoon has become

A clearer look at Vandoorne's Suzuka hat

A clearer look at Vandoorne's Suzuka hat

Vandoorne and his curious hat join the boat race

Vandoorne and his curious hat join the boat race

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Meanwhile, in the paddock, Renault has officially announced something that has been annoying its rivals for the last week:

Renault F1 confirms contentious FIA tech man as executive director

The Renault Formula 1 team has confirmed that former FIA F1 technical department head Marcin Budkowski will join the squad as its executive director

Renault F1 confirms contentious FIA tech man as executive director

By: Geoff Creighton

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