Max Verstappen has topped the first practice for the Japanese Grand Prix, ahead of teammate Sergio Pérez, and Lewis Hamilton in third, in a session that saw a lengthy red flag due to Williams’ Logan Sargeant crashing out.
The first half of the session saw the McLarens topping the charts in a mix with the Mercedes and Aston Martins. However, as Red Bull progressed through the session, their times improved and eventually Verstappen led the timing sheets as usual.
Hamilton then stole the lead, but it’s worth noting that the British driver was the only one having its first run with the soft compound tires, which weren’t being used by any other driver at the time.
Immediately after, the red flag was shown – it was Williams’ Sargeant who went off the track at turn 7, as he got wide and onto the grass, losing control of his car, spinning through the gravel and heavily impacting the barriers, suffering suspension damage. It is anticipated that the American’s machinery has earned gearbox issues too.
The practice then resumed with approximately 20 minutes to the end, with Verstappen fitting the soft tires and immediately stealing Hamilton’s position in P1 by 0.487 seconds. Then, his teammate Pérez followed in second place by 0.181s.
Nothing changed at the top and the first practice at Suzuka ended with both Red Bulls leading. Behind them, was Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, who had a better run than teammate Charles Leclerc, who only managed to place the 6th fastest lap of the grid.
Between them, both Mercedes with Russell on top.
For RB F1 Team it was an all-Japanese line-up for the session, as Yuki Tsunoda was joined by academy’s Ayumu Iwasa, who finished in P15 – far when compared to the number 22’s P9, although an admirable result for the Super Formula driver.
The next practice session will happen at 8 AM CET.