Practice 1 Report - Rain Rules

Rain ruled the day in Free Practice 1 for the Japanese Grand Prix as the damp conditions kept the drivers in the pit garages for most of the session. Carlos Sainz (Toro Rosso) and Daniil Kvyat (Red Bull) ended up being the quickest two drivers.

The ambient temperature at the start of the 90-minute session was 66 degrees Fahrenheit (19 degrees Centigrade) and the track temperature was 70 degrees Fahrenheit (21 degrees Centigrade.) There was a 100 percent chance of rain.

The line-up for the weekend was: Mercedes - Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. Red Bull Renault - Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat. Williams Mercedes - Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas. Ferrari - Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen. McLaren Honda - Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button. Force India Mercedes - Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez. Toro Rosso Renault - Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz. Lotus Mercedes - Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado. Marussia Ferrari - Will Stevens and Alexander Rossi. Sauber - Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr.

Jolyon Palmer took over Grosjean's Lotus for this session.

Vettel and Ferrari had dominated in Singapore, but Raikkonen said before practice in Japan that a win in Singapore did not necessarily translate into the Ferrari being quick in Suzuka.

"We'll see how it goes," he said, "so there's no point in sitting here and trying to guess what's going to happen. Obviously we hope to be in a good position, but you never know. We've done many races this year. Things keep going up and down, so the order between the teams can change a bit from one track to the next."

Ericsson was the first out on the 3.608-mile (5.807-km) 18-turn track. Hulkenberg said there was something wrong with the steering on the Force India because it was going light and then heavy.

Everybody did an install lap except Hamilton who waited until 19 minutes into the session to go out.

Nothing much else happened in the first 30 minutes until Alonso headed out followed by Rossi.

53 minutes into the session, Verstappen clocked a 1:51.741. Soon thereafter, Sainz, Rosberg and Raikkonen also posted lap times. Verstappen improved to a 1:51.640.

With 32 minutes remaining in the session, Rosberg went into first with a 1:51.117.

With 31 minutes remaining in the session, Bottas tried the intermediate rain tires and was sliding quite a bit around the track.

With 27 minutes remaining in the session, the order was; Rosberg, Vettel, Sainz, Verstappen, Massa, Raikkonen, Button and Bottas.

With 25 minutes remaining in the session, Rosberg set a lap time of 1:50.077.

With 20 minutes remaining in the session, Verstappen was lapping on the intermediates and went second with a 1:50.940. Next, Kvyat went out on the inters and posted a 1:49.938.

With 17 minutes remaining in the session, Sainz did a lap in 1:49.434. More drivers ventured out, but none of them could get below the one minute, 50 second barrier.

The order at the end of FP1 was: Sainz, Kvyat, Rosberg, Vettel, Hamilton, Verstappen, Raikkonen, Massa, Bottas, Nasr, Ericsson and Button. The other 8 drivers did not set a time.