Fernando Alonso set the fastest time during a wet opening practice session for the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka as Mick Schumacher crashed his Haas after the chequered flag.
The Alpine driver was quickest on the intermediate tyres with a 1’42.248, ahead of the two Ferraris of Carlos Sainz Jnr and Charles Leclerc. As conditions first improved, then deteriorated through the hour, Schumacher lost control of his Haas after the chequered flag rounding the Dunlop curve, causing major damage to his car heading into the second session.
Rain earlier in the morning had left plenty of standing water around the circuit, but there was lttle falling as the first F1 practice session at Suzuka for three years got underway. Although many were hesitant at first to venture out onto the track, eventually both Kevin Magnussen and Yuki Tsunoda headed out on exploratory laps on the full wet tyres before pitting.
Around ten minutes into the session, many drivers started to head out onto the circuit for the first time, helping to start and clear away the standing water that was on track. There were reports that the circuit was offering more grip that a lot of the drivers were expecting, with some openly pondering whether intermediate tyres would be more suitable than the extreme wets.
Drivers remained cautious as they refamiliarised themselves around the Suzuka circuit, with Leclerc setting the fastest time on the wet weather tyres with a 1’48.104. That was beaten by team mate Sainz, who went three tenths of a second quicker, also on the full wets.
Around half an hour into the session, championship leader Max Verstappen left the garage for the first time on the intermediate tyres. Any question of which of the two wet tyres were the better suited for the slippery conditions was answered when the Red Bull driver immediately went fastest by over three seconds.
Nicholas Latifi had a brief trip over the gravel at the hairpin after locking up under braking and skidding off the asphalt. Thankfully for the Williams driver, he was able to recover back on the track and continue on his way without interrupting the session.
Drivers began to improve across the field on the intermediate tyres, with Fernando Alonso going quickest with a 1’42.248. However, Leclerc was warned that more rain was expected over the final 20 minutes of the session and Ferrari were soon proved right as the conditions visibly worsened with the rain intensifying.
As surface water increased and grip levels fell,…
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