Japan – Free Practice 1: Hamilton on Top, Bianchi Injured

The weather is beautiful and warm in Japan, providing ideal conditions for the 2013 Japanese Grand Prix. Free practice 1 begins at 3 AM (French time), starting unsurprisingly with a series of installation laps.

After 20 minutes, Pastor Maldonado is the first driver to set a timed lap at 1:36.969, the Venezuelan already goes flat out through the 130R. Behind him, Jules Bianchi follows suit, a few seconds slower. Sergio Perez improves upon Pastor Maldonado’s time to set the best of the three recorded timings.

After 30 minutes, the two Caterham drivers, Heikki Kovalainen, who is replacing Charles Pic for this session, and Giedo van der Garde, set out for a comparative test. But a yellow flag occurs in this session; it’s Jules Bianchi who hit the tires after climbing a curb. The Marussia couldn’t be saved, which led it into the wall, destroying the left front of his car.

The end of this interruption sends the drivers back on track, while part of Maldonado’s Williams is being dismantled, indicating work ahead for the mechanics. Best time for Mark Webber, who improves Sergio Perez’s time by 252 thousandths; the Australian doesn’t seem to have any issues with his new chassis.

At mid-session, Sebastian Vettel completes a lap only 9 thousandths behind his teammate despite a small mistake in his flying lap, ahead of Kimi Räikkönen. But it’s Felipe Massa who is on the attack to set the fastest time, achieving it despite losing three-tenths in the last sector. Unfortunately for the 2008 vice-champion, Nico Rosberg improves below 1:35 with his Silver Arrow. And Felipe Massa experiences some drama, with a small fire at the exit of his exhaust pipes upon his return to the pits. A slight scare for Sebastian Vettel as he almost collides with a much slower Force India in the first corner.

After an hour, Lewis Hamilton is the fastest driver ahead of his teammate. At Williams, comparative work is being done on the front wings with Valtteri Bottas’s car.

Second problem for Pastor Maldonado: the Williams lost the rear left wheel; the new fastening system introduced since Singapore doesn’t seem completely effective. Right after, Giedo van der Garde ends up in the gravel trap after braking on a curb. Yellow flags in two areas as a result.

At Lotus, a lot of work on the anti-roll bars while van der Garde’s Caterham joins the Marussia of Jules Bianchi. We find the Frenchman in his team’s motorhome, his elbow resting on an ice pack visibly: the impact has left its marks.

Fifteen minutes before the end, the standings remain unchanged. Only 5 teams are represented in the top 10: Mercedes, Red Bull, Ferrari, Lotus, and McLaren. But the fight is tight between Jenson Button and Nico Hülkenberg. The drivers are putting in a lot of laps during this session, with more than 20 laps completed by Sebastian Vettel, for example.

It was ultimately Lewis Hamilton who set the fastest time in a session marked by incidents and the minor elbow injury of Jules Bianchi.

Results of Free Practice 2 of the 2013 Japanese Grand Prix: