Japan – Free Practice 1: Button and McLaren lead from the start

Back on track after various murmurs in the paddock about the 2013 season. The weather is almost ideal for motorsport at the start of the weekend in Suzuka. Temperatures are expected to be summery, with the mercury already reaching 25°C this early autumn morning and the track heated to 31°C. A few clouds are visible, but the sky is mostly blue.

For these first trials on Japanese soil, Bruno Senna is replaced by Valtteri Bottas in the second Williams, while Giedo Van der Garde is driving the number 20 Caterham usually occupied by Heikki Kovalainen, a first since the Chinese Grand Prix. The Dutch driver is duly briefed over the radio on the procedures he will need to follow during this session.

After a series of installation laps – up to three loops for Michael Schumacher – silence resumes for a few minutes on the Suzuka circuit. After aborted attempts by Jean-Eric Vergne and Kamui Kobayashi, it is Lewis Hamilton who sets the first times, 1:37.435 then 1:37.008 on Hard tires, after more than 20 minutes of the session. The future Mercedes driver, accompanied on track only by the two HRT drivers, continues to improve the reference mark to 1:34.910, before returning to the pits.

After 40 minutes, only Kamui Kobayashi approached within a second of Lewis Hamilton, clocking in at 1:35.876. The local hero was joined by Romain Grosjean, who recovered from a few scares due to minor trajectory deviations a few laps earlier, and Mark Webber, who also made a small error a few minutes ago at the last chicane. The grip is still not ideal, with Sebastian Vettel nearly losing his car in the esses, as did Kamui Kobayashi in Spoon. But it’s the other Red Bull driver who stands out, with Mark Webber setting the fastest time on Hard tires at 1:34.856.

As less than 35 minutes remain, Jenson Button, still on the hardest tires, moves to the top of the standings with a time of 1:34.507. However, the Englishman is not yet completely satisfied with his car and tells his engineer, reporting oversteer. Meanwhile, his teammate for another 6 races ranks 2nd, two-tenths behind. In addition to being fast, the McLarens appear consistent, with Lewis Hamilton following up with a lap just a tenth off his best.

Less than 25 minutes before the end of the session, Sergio Pérez almost commits the irreparable by running slightly wide at the 130R: the Mexican touches the curb at the exit of the curve and has to drive over it entirely at over 300 km/h to avoid losing control of his C31. Michael Schumacher is also caught braking too late at the final chicane, leaving the future retiree with a dirty set of tires. But on the following lap, the seven-time World Champion climbs to 5th place, just behind his teammate, 0.6 seconds back from Jenson Button. Meanwhile, another World Champion, Sebastian Vettel, can’t manage to move up from his 17th position in the standings.

About 5 minutes from the end, Timo Glock gets caught in the treacherous Degner turns, forced to go through the gravel at the exit of Degner 2, without damage. The drivers are definitely having a lot of difficulty finding grip on a very technical track that hasn’t been rubbered in yet: Fernando Alonso treats us to a remarkable controlled slide in turn 6 before braking too late in the final chicane, while his rear wing is coated with air-flow revealing liquid. And unlike the beginning of the session, Jenson Button suffers from significant understeer, which also causes a small mistake without consequence in Degner 2.

In the last minute, the yellow flag is deployed in turn 4, with Nico Rosberg having to leave his Mercedes at a standstill due to what appears to be a sudden mechanical issue. No one is able to improve, and it is Jenson Button who finishes at the top of this session, ahead of his teammate Lewis Hamilton and Mark Webber.

Free Practice 1 Rankings for the 2012 Japanese Grand Prix: