FP1: Sainz tops wet practice

Editor

Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz set the pace in a quiet opening practice session for the Japanese Grand Prix, which was blighted by the rain.

20 minutes before the start of the morning’s session the rain showers grew steadily harder which led to the teams opting for single installation laps.

As the standing water and rivers began to clear mid-way through the 90-minute session, Max Verstappen was the first to put in a timed lap.

With more drivers, many of whom slipped and slid their way off the track at some point, laying down times, Nico Rosberg went quickest on the full wets with a 1:50.077.

The final 20 minutes saw some drivers swap to the intermediate tyres with Carlos Sainz hitting the front with a 1:49.434.

Daniil Kvyat was second quickest, 0.504s down, while Rosberg was third, the quickest driver on the full wets.

Only 12 drivers posted times during FP1.

Times
1 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso 1:49.434 10 laps
2 Daniil Kvyat Red Bull 1:49.938 0.504 7 laps
3 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:50.077 0.643 14 laps
4 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:50.519 1.085 12 laps
5 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:50.722 1.288 6 laps
6 Max Verstappen Toro Rosso 1:50.940 1.506 10 laps
7 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:51.212 1.778 15 laps
8 Felipe Massa Williams    1:52.288 2.854 12 laps
9 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1:53.820 4.386 12 laps
10 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:53.964 4.530 14 laps
11 Felipe Nasr Sauber 1:54.013 4.579 9 laps
12 Jenson Button McLaren 1:55.678 6.244    6 laps
13 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull No time 1 lap
14 Nico Hulkenberg Force India No time 4 laps
15 Sergio Perez Force India No time 3 laps
16 Fernando Alonso McLaren No time 5 laps
17 Pastor Maldonado Lotus No time 1 lap
18 Jolyon Palmer Lotus No time 1 lap
19 Will Stevens Manor No time 3 laps
20 Alexander Rossi Manor No time 4 laps