F1: Mercedes spearhead time charts of an eventful FP1 session at Suzuka

F1 Team Mercedes looked comfortable in the first Free Practice session at Suzuka, Japan today. Both Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg were at the top of their game as they ended up in P1 and P2 positions. Hamilton was over six-tenths faster than his team mate and set a time of 1:34.157 while Rosberg managed to put in 1:34.487. 

With one-two going to Mercedes, it was the Red Bulls who went 3^rd and 4^th fastest. There was little to separate the two RB9s, Vettel less than two-hundredths of a second faster than Mark Webber as he set a time of 1:34.768. 

The Ferraris and Lotuses were next, Romain Grosjean went off at Spoon Curve earlier in the session and struggled with rear instability. But the other drivers had more serious problems.  

Marussia driver Jules Bianchi’s first session at Suzuka lasted just half an hour as he went off at Degner 2 on his ninth lap. Bianchi applied the opposite lock but found his arm jammed against the side of the cockpit as he tried to straighten the car. That sent him into the barrier, damaging the front-left corner. 

But it was not just Marussia who faced problems. Caterham driver Giedo van der Garde locked his brakes at the same corner and came to a stop in the gravel trap just shy of the barrier. Around the same time Pastor Maldonado had an unusual failure at Spoon Curve as his wheel came loose which pitched him into a spin, after which it came off completely. 

That truly was an eventful first practice session at Suzuka and the drivers are still getting used to the track conditions. We hope the second session is better. We’ll keep you updated with the latest from the Japanese Grand Prix.