F1 GP Japan, Free Practice 1: Vettel precedes Hamilton

Sebastian Vettel he is the fastest in Free Practice 1st Suzuka. The pilot of Ferrari he ended the morning at the top, followed by Hamilton at 2 tenths, and Ricciardo's Red Bull. The Rossa is also excellent on race pace, with the supersoft compound. Raikkonen, Bottas, Verstappen, Ocon, Hulkenberg, Grosjean and Vandoorne complete the top ten. Session interrupted by the red flag due to an accident, without consequences, for Carlos Sainz.

News – The air temperature was 19°C and the asphalt temperature was 23°C when the green light went in at Suzuka. Toro Rosso, Sebastian Vettel, Pascal Wehrlein and Jolyon Palmer are first on track. First time for Hamilton on soft tyre, 1:31.544. The Briton lowered the reference time to 1.31.072, followed by Verstappen with the red compound, Bottas on the soft, Ricciardo with the red and Grosjean on the yellow compound. So Bottas took the lead in 1:30.517. Hamilton overtakes him by 4 tenths. On the soft tyre, Vettel is fourth, Kimi seventh. Raikkonen climbs to third place, 4 tenths from the top. Alonso with the SS stops the clock for the first time, for the seventh fastest time. Daniel Ricciardo, back on track with a new set of supersofts, lowered the reference time to 1:29.541.

Thirty minutes from the start: Ricciardo precedes Hamilton, Bottas, Raikkonen, Vettel, Verstappen, Alonso, Ocon, Hulkenberg and Massa. On the supersofts they are Ricciardo, Verstappen, Alonso, Vandoorne - who takes ninth place - and Hulkenberg. The others on soft. The two Mercedes switch to the supersoft compound: Hamilton takes the lead of the group in 1:29.377. From the Haas pits they reported a drop in water pressure for Magnussen. Hulkenberg took the seventh fastest time on the supersoft tyre, Vettel moved up to second on the yellow tyre, just 42 thousandths behind Hamilton.

Mid-session: Hamilton, Vettel, Ricciardo, Raikkonen, Bottas, Verstappen, Hulkenberg, Alonso, Grosjean and Palmer: Mercedes, Red Bull, Hulk, Alonso and Palmer on supersoft, the others on soft. Magnussen returns to lap with the red tire, making him seventh, followed by Vandoorne with the same compound. But the red flag waves on the track: Sainz crashes into the barriers in turn 11. The ranking freezes with Hamilton in the lead, followed by Vettel, Ricciardo, Kimi, Bottas, Verstappen, Hulkenberg, Vandoorne, Alonso and Magnussen.

Less than thirty minutes from the end we start again. With the red tire Alonso placed tenth, while Vettel took the lead in 1:29.166. Same problem as before on Magnussen's Haas: from the pits they tell him to slow down and return to the pit lane. Vettel, Hamilton and Raikkonen moved on to the race pace simulation, with Ferrari currently appearing the best on track. The rain surprises the riders on the track in the final minutes; the session ends shortly after, with Vettel the fastest ahead of Hamilton and Ricciardo.

F1 GP Japan – Times, results and laps Free Practice 1