Japanese Grand Prix: Free Practice 1 – Max Verstappen shows his teeth

Aymu Hiwasa, who is part of the Red Bull juniors program, took over Daniel Ricciardo’s seat for this practice session. He is thus taking his first laps in Formula 1 in front of his home crowd at the wheel of the Racing Bull.

A starting session to establish references.

This Suzuka track is atypical in the calendar. With a first part that is a series of very fast corners, taking G is harmful to tire wear.

Thus this first part of the session takes place in moderation, with a limited number of attack laps and on hard or medium tires.

Max Verstappen, who needs to quickly make up for his retirement in Australia two weeks ago, easily places himself as Red Bull’s number 1 in the standings, on hard tires.

Behind the reigning champion McLaren, Aston Martin, Mercedes and Ferrari are vying for the positions of challengers.

Does Logan Sargeant compromise his future?

The American driver causes a red flag halfway through the session. Exiting the esses, he runs wide off the track and ends up nose first in the tire wall. While the driver is unharmed, it is not so obvious whether the chassis is intact. This is Alex Albon’s chassis, repaired following the Thai driver’s incident in Australia, which will once again have to spend a few hours in the hands of the Williams mechanics. Is this the last straw for Sargeant?

A little more rhythm after the red flag.

At the restart, all teams set off with soft tires to test themselves at a qualifying pace.

Unsurprisingly, it is Max Verstappen who dictates the session and easily puts his Austrian car at the top of the timing sheets again. Sergio Perez follows his leading driver without difficulty. As predicted, the Red Bull seems to be “easy” on this track.

Behind, Carlos Sainz impresses again and confirms his strong start to the season while Charles Leclerc seems to struggle a bit more with his Ferrari.

Mercedes seems to have regained confidence by repositioning themselves at the front of the chasing group behind Red Bull.

A glimmer of hope for Alpine?

The French team, struggling a lot during the first three races, seems to have evolved its car. Even though Pierre Gasly is only 17th, it is a bit better than the usual last positions. But hope comes from Esteban Ocon who achieves a convincing 11th time, which should give Alpine hope for the rest of the weekend.

Results table