(F1 racing news) After the ‘accident’ at Albert Park, Red Bull and champion Max Verstappen returned to their original position on the first day at Suzuka, a day of competition interrupted by red flags and rain. Ferrari and Mercedes followed closely behind the championship team, while Williams had his second consecutive accident with his car.
FP1: Sargeant causes the first red, Red Bull starts well
With dry and cool weather conditions in the first hour of competition at Japanese GP 2024, the racers began the testing program with Medium and Hard tires. Max Verstappen set the record on C1 tires while Lando Norris (McLaren) and Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) ran on C2 tires.
Then Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) was the one who “initiated” the use of Soft tires and the racers did the same. Logan Sargeant (Williams) made a mistake at Dunlop Curves, lost control of the car and crashed into a barrier outside the track. The heavy impact on both the front and rear of the car caused the run to be halted by a red flag and once again, Williams had to assess the damage and was unable to help Sargeant participate in FP2 because the technical team took longer to repairs.
When FP1 returned, riders switched to C3 Soft tires to focus on vehicle performance. The Dutch champion is the fastest achiever – 1 minute 30.056s. Verstappen is 0.181s faster than teammate Sergio Perez (P2). Australian GP 2024 winner Carlos Sainz maintained stability and started the race with P3 position; Next is the Mercedes duo, George Russell and Lewis Hamilton as well as Ferrari’s second driver, Charles Leclerc (who uses a hat with a tribute design to his friend/unlucky racer – Jules Bianchi).
Alonso ranked 7th for Aston Martin, right above home driver Yuki Tsunoda, who is in good form with RB, sandwiched between the duo McLaren – Norris and Oscar Piastri in the top 10. Esteban Ocon ranked 11th for Alpine, right above Alex Albon in the second Williams (running Sargeant’s old chassis instead of the one on which he crashed at Albert Park, which was transferred to Sargeant’s use) and Nico Hulkenberg, received the black-white flag for crossing the white line when leave the pit.
F2 winner and current Super Formula driver Ayumu Iwasa has the chance to compete in FP1 on home soil, using Daniel Ricciardo’s car at Racing Bull. He had a successful run with 22 laps and P16 position, behind Lance Stroll and Valtteri Bottas (Kick Sauber).
The final positions belong to the remaining 4 drivers of the Alpine, Kick Sauber, Haas and Williams teams, including Pierre Gasly, Chu Quan Vu, Kevin Magnussen and Sargeant with only 10 laps to run.
FP2: Piastri took the lead in a run without most of the riders
The second run started in rainy and humid conditions, making the racing teams reluctant to leave the pits early and wait for better weather. However, the rain increased in intensity, causing the first 30 minutes to pass without any activity on the track. Finally, Piastri left the pits with green rimmed Inter tires and responded that the road surface was not too wet. Tsunoda was the one who set the first time of FP2, achieving 1 minute 42 seconds, followed by teammate Ricciardo.
Tsunoda then shortened the time to 1 minute 40 seconds, before Piastri used Soft tires in the final minutes to top FP2 with a record of 1 minute 34.725 seconds. Hamilton also ran Soft tires and ranked 2nd, 0.5s slower than the McLaren driver. The duo of Ferrari and Norris also managed to get themselves achievements in this ‘dismal’ run.
Thus, the racers were not able to have the best preparation for the qualifying run and the main race. FP3 will be the last opportunity for the 20 drivers to get acquainted and have final tests before entering the most important runs.
Detailed results on Friday at Japanese GP 2024:
FP1
