F1: Mercedes Lead in Practice but Red Bull Loom

[Paul Jeffrey]

Mercedes duo Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton topped the time sheets in both sessions during Friday Free Practice at Suzuka, laying down a serious marker to those looking to secure a solid result during Sunday's Grand Prix.

With World Championship points leader Nico Rosberg quickest during both sessions leading team mate Lewis Hamilton in second, it was once again left to Ferrari and Red Bull to fight for the remaining top five positions. Ferrari appeared to be the stronger package over a single lap, however the long-run pace of the Red Bull's will leave Ferrari concerned in the lead up to the Grand Prix as the Austrian outfit looked closer to the Mercedes on race pace than they have all season.

Rosberg and Hamilton find themselves with a comfortable advantage over the field following conclusion of Friday's action, as Red Bull surprisingly struggled over a single lap despite this circuit playing to many of their primary strengths. Daniel Ricciardo was however denied the opportunity to set a qualifying time during FP2 as the Virtual Safety Car was called out during his hot lap, scuppering his attempt in what looked like a certain top four time.

McLaren-Honda have again shown reasonable pace during the opening day, Fernando Alonso piloting his Japanese-powered machine to top ten results in both sessions, evidently keen to impress the Honda top brass in front of their home faithful. Given he will be using Honda's newly upgraded engine this weekend, for which he took a sizeable penalty at last weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix, Alonso will be hoping for a strong points scoring finish on Sunday with hopefully no repeats of "Arggghh... GP2 Engine!!!".

Practice and qualifying continue on Saturday, with an 80% chance of rain predicted throughout the day.

Free Practice 1 Results

1. Nico Rosberg GER Mercedes-Mercedes 1m 32.431s
2. Lewis Hamilton GBR Mercedes-Mercedes 1m 32.646s
3. Sebastian Vettel GER Ferrari-Ferrari 1m 33.525s
4. Kimi Raikkonen FIN Ferrari-Ferrari 1m 33.817s
5. Daniel Ricciardo AUS Red Bull-TAG 1m 34.112s
6. Max Verstappen NED Red Bull-TAG 1m 34.379s
7. Nico Hulkenberg GER Force India-Mercedes 1m 34.530s
8. Sergio Perez MEX Force India-Mercedes 1m 34.767s
9. Fernando Alonso ESP McLaren-Honda 1m 35.003s
10. Valtteri Bottas FIN Williams-Mercedes 1m 35.381s
11. Daniil Kvyat RUS Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m 35.446s
12. Carlos Sainz Jr ESP Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m 35.672s
13. Jenson Button GBR McLaren-Honda 1m 35.677s
14. Romain Grosjean FRA Haas-Ferrari 1m 35.688s
15. Felipe Nasr BRA Sauber-Ferrari 1m 35.967s
16. Felipe Massa BRZ Williams-Mercedes 1m 36.169s
17. Esteban Gutierrez MEX Haas-Ferrari 1m 36.219s
18. Marcus Ericsson SWE Sauber-Ferrari 1m 36.294s
19. Kevin Magnussen DEN Renault-Renault 1m 36.822s
20. Esteban Ocon FRA Manor-Mercedes 1m 37.797s
21. Pascal Wehrlein GER Manor-Mercedes 1m 37.966s
22. Jolyon Palmer GBR Renault-Renault 1m 37.992s​

Free Practice 2 Results

1. Nico Rosberg GER Mercedes-Mercedes 1m 32.250s
2. Lewis Hamilton GBR Mercedes-Mercedes 1m 32.322s
3. Kimi Raikkonen FIN Ferrari-Ferrari 1m 32.573s
4. Max VerstappenNED Red Bull-TAG 1m 33.061s
5. Sebastian Vettel GER Ferrari-Ferrari 1m 33.103s
6. Sergio Perez MEX Force India-Mercedes 1m 33.570s
7. Nico Hulkenberg GER Force India-Mercedes 1m 33.873s
8. Fernando Alonso ESP McLaren-Honda 1m 33.985s
9. Valtteri Bottas FIN Williams-Mercedes 1m 34.028s
10 .Carlos Sainz Jr ESP Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m 34.086s
11. Felipe Massa BRZ Williams-Mercedes 1m 34.127s
12. Daniel Ricciardo AUS Red Bull-TAG 1m 34.150s
13. Romain Grosjean FRA Haas-Ferrari 1m 34.241s
14. Daniil Kvyat RUS Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m 34.305s
15. Kevin Magnussen DEN Renault-Renault 1m 34.339s
16. Jenson Button GBR McLaren-Honda 1m 34.398s
17. Esteban Gutierrez MEX Haas-Ferrari 1m 34.643s
18. Jolyon Palmer GBR Renault-Renault 1m 34.760s
19. Felipe Nasr BRA Sauber-Ferrari 1m 34.824s
20. Pascal Wehrlein GER Manor-Mercedes 1m 35.292s
21. Esteban Ocon FRA Manor-Mercedes 1m 35.400s
22. Marcus Ericsson SWE Sauber-Ferrari 1m 36.318s​

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Can Hamilton claw back some ground this weekend after his rotten luck last time out in Malaysia? Will Ferrari find those missing tenths come race day? Two in a row for Ricciardo? Let us know what you think below!

 

[Alex Townsend]

Unless Nico and Lewis take each other out it's quite possibly going to be a Mercedes 1/2 on Sunday.
Never say never but maybe Ricciardo will be fired up from his win last weekend ready to give it some welly at the start. If he can get past the Mercedes then all he has to do is keep his young whippersnapper team mate behind him which is easier said than done...

 

[Dovi design]

GP2 engine

 

[gamer19]

Unless Nico and Lewis take each other out it's quite possibly going to be a Mercedes 1/2 on Sunday...

Oh c'mon... you mixed up this two spoiled blokes with two really great drivers and at the same time team mates, over 1/4 century time ago. =)
Same place. Different team. But they actually did it twice.

 

[Alex Townsend]

History has a habit of repeating itself. Especially with F1 drivers close enough in the points to take a world championship..

 

[gamer19]

Hmm... maybe you're right.
So, I guess, Nico is Alen, always more cautious and calculated (but still fast) and Ham is Senna. "Raw talent" and gives a * to no one. He's anyway a big fan of him. Even his helmet is designed based on Senna's.
Ok, it's a deal. We only still have to guess where will they do - it in first corner or that infamous chicane.

 

[snyperal]

All rosberg has to do is a little nudge on Hamilton and the Championship will be his...