Vettel laments missing long runs

The Toro Rosso driver managed 23 laps before his car suffered a hydraulic problem which meant the German was unable to complete long runs to prepare for the race.

Despite that, Vettel feels his car is good enough for a strong qualifying.

"Unfortunately, this afternoon, we had a hydraulic problem which meant I didn't manage to do the long runs I wanted," said Vettel.

"But the car seems well balanced, which I was able to check at the very end of the session after the boys had worked very hard to get me out on track before the flag.

"I think we should be fine for qualifying, but for race set up I would have preferred more time to do some long runs. Tyre wise I think we are sorted though."

Teammate Sebastien Bourdais wound up 14th in his first outing at the Japanese circuit.

"It's my first time at this track and also my first visit to Japan," said Bourdais. "The track is not the most exciting but it's nicely done with a good bump-free surface and it's a great facility. It's not a difficult to track to learn as there only eight real corners.

"But after that, it can become quite tricky, because at the final complex, if you are too aggressive on the entry you pay the price on the exit, losing time for the straight, so you have to be careful not to be your own worst enemy.

"So, it's not easy setting up the car as you want minimum downforce for the long straight and you want quite a bit of downforce for the complex and the two quick corners, which requires a compromise.

"I think we have got it about right so far and in terms of tyres, there seems to be quite high degradation, which is normal for a first day as the track began to pick up grip this afternoon."