Davidson tops wet practice 1 - Japan
World championship contenders Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso were content to stay in the dry on Friday morning and watch as Honda's Anthony Davidson topped the times in opening free practice for Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix
The Briton was the first man out, fastest most often in the session and finished the hour with a best lap in 1:45.349 ahead of nearest rival Neel Jani of Switzerland in a Toro Rosso and German teenager Sebastian Vettel in his BMW Sauber.
Both Ferrari teammates Michael Schumacher and Felipe Massa did not venture out at all on to the rain-hit track while Alonso and his Renault teammate Giancarlo Fisichella did only one installation lap each.
The session began in steady rain on a wet track. The air temperature was 22 degrees Celsius and the track temperature the same. The local Japanese fans, wrapped up in brightly-coloured sheets of plastic in the grandstands, sat it out stoically.
Davidson was the first driver out, his emergence marking the 20th successive Japanese Grand Prix on Honda's home track and also the last before the event moves to Mount Fuji next year.
In the opening minutes, Davidson was the only driver to reel off any successive laps as most of his normal Friday morning rivals were content to wait and see if the rain relented. Gradually, it did.
After 15 minutes, Williams's Alexander Wurz moved to the top of the times and stayed there for nearly 20 minutes before he was overhauled by Franck Montagny in a Super Aguri Honda.
Michael Ammermuller in a Red Bull Ferrari then clocked the best lap after 36 minutes before Davidson responded. By then, it had stopped raining, but there were still high plumes of spray being created by the cars.
Vettel appeared to be content to learn the track and was seen slithering in the rain several times as he found the limits of his BMW Sauber.
With 15 minutes of the session remaining, Montagny lost control at Turn 9 and went off into the gravel trap. He was unable to rejoin the action and Davidson, with his best lap of 1:45.349, continued to top the times.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Davidson Honda (M) 1:45.349 18 2. Jani Toro Rosso-Cosworth (M) 1:46.138 + 0.789 21 3. Vettel BMW-Sauber (M) 1:46.585 + 1.236 20 4. Ammermuller Red Bull-Ferrari (M) 1:47.162 + 1.813 21 5. Sutil Spyker MF1-Toyota (B) 1:47.773 + 2.424 21 6. Speed Toro Rosso-Cosworth (M) 1:47.814 + 2.465 7 7. Albers Spyker MF1-Toyota (B) 1:47.838 + 2.489 6 8. Montagny Super Aguri-Honda (B) 1:47.918 + 2.569 13 9. Wurz Williams-Cosworth (B) 1:47.919 + 2.570 19 10. Sato Super Aguri-Honda (B) 1:48.042 + 2.693 11 11. Yamamoto Super Aguri-Honda (B) 1:50.479 + 5.130 9 12. Webber Williams-Cosworth (B) No time 1 13. Rosberg Williams-Cosworth (B) No time 1 14. Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes (M) No time 1 15. Liuzzi Toro Rosso-Cosworth (M) No time 2 16. Doornbos Red Bull-Ferrari (M) No time 1 17. Kubica BMW-Sauber (M) No time 1 18. Coulthard Red Bull-Ferrari (M) No time 1 19. Alonso Renault (M) No time 1 20. Heidfeld BMW-Sauber (M) No time 1 21. Fisichella Renault (M) No time 1 22. Monteiro Spyker MF1-Toyota (B) No time 4 23. de la Rosa McLaren-Mercedes (M) No time 1 24. Barrichello Honda (M) No time 1 25. Trulli Toyota (B) No time 1 26. R.Schumacher Toyota (B) No time 1 27. Button Honda (M) No time 1 28. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) No time 29. Massa Ferrari (B) No time All timing unofficial
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