Rosberg ahead of Hamilton in Japan GP’s first practice

F1 News – World Championship leader Nico Rosberg set the fastest time in the opening practice session for the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka, two tenths clear of Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton.

Rosberg lapped in 1m32.431s, 0.215s quicker than Hamilton. Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel was third quickest, over a second off the pace but three tenths clear of teammate Kimi Raikkonen.

Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen were fifth and sixth respectively.

Story of the session

Under fine, sunny skies, the green track conditions caught out a number of drivers in the opening moments. Williams’s Felipe Massa suffered an early excursion on the exit of Turn 1 when he understeered wide on to the grass.

Then Fernando Alonso spun at Spoon on his second flying lap, whacking the tyrewall with both the right-rear corner and rear wing of his McLaren. He was able to haul it back to the pits, where his car underwent a lengthy repair job.

Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen went off on to the grass at the hairpin on his first flying lap, but he recovered to set 1m34.746s on his second lap. That was the benchmark for the session until Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton topped him with 1m33.751s and 1m33.967s respectively, Rosberg going ahead of Raikkonen by almost a second.

“There ain’t a lot of power,” complained Hamilton after his first effort, which was 0.216s down on Rosberg. Nico reported “monster understeer” on his opening long run.

Vettel rose to third fastest on 1m34.334s, just over half a second off the Mercedes pace.

Verstappen complained of rough gearshifts on his first run, which was only good enough for eighth fastest time, behind teammate Ricciardo. “Downshifts are like a handbrake,” Verstappen complained.

On the second set of tyres, Raikkonen jumped to second on 1m33.817s – setting the fastest first and third sectors – to get within half a tenth of Rosberg’s early fastest time.

Rosberg sees off his rivals

With 30 minutes remaining, Vettel briefly snatched P1 on 1m33.525s, despite running wide at Degner 2, before Rosberg raised the bar to 1m32.431s – going over a second clear at the top. He later reported a “problem with some engine cuts”.

Hamilton’s response was 1m32.646s, 0.215s off his teammate’s pace.

Behind the Ferraris, Ricciardo improved to 1m34.112s, two tenths up on Verstappen, who ran wide at Spoon late on in the session. The Force Indias of Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez were seventh and eighth respectively, ahead of Alonso (whose running ended early due to exhaust damage) and Valtteri Bottas of Williams.

The Toro Rossos of Daniil Kvyat and Carlos Sainz were 11th and 12th, ahead of the McLaren of Jenson Button.

Haas’s Romain Grosjean was 14th but suffered a gravelly off at Degner 2. Remarkably, he was able to escape by reversing back on to the track despite damaging his front wing against the tyrewall.

“Mate, the brake doesn’t brake,” he complained.

Sauber’s Felipe Nasr was 15th, ahead of Massa, Haas’s Esteban Gutierrez and Marcus Ericsson (Sauber).

Renault’s Kevin Magnussen, the Manors of Esteban Ocon and Pascal Wehrlein, and Jolyon Palmer (who suffered an electrical problem on his Renault) completed the runners.

Category: Formula One