2016 F1 Round 17 Japanese GP FP1, Rosberg Leads Hamilton by 0.215 Seconds

Suzuka hosted the opening free practice session of the Japanese Grand Prix weekend, with Mercedes quickly up to speed. Nico Rosberg set a 1:32.431 to lead the way on Friday morning.

Archive image of the McLaren drivers together during the 2016 Japanese Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton was second, 0.215 seconds behind. Ferrari’s two drivers followed, Vettel third and Räikkönen fourth, while Red Bull provisionally occupied fifth and sixth.

Mercedes mixed different tyre choices into its practice programme, while Red Bull focused on running the medium and hard compounds. Verstappen did not use the soft tyre, so the cars’ timed laps reflected different tyre selections.

Hamilton reported low power output early in the session, while Rosberg described significant understeer and later experienced a brief engine cut. Both drivers still completed enough laps to remain in the top two.

Alonso went off at Spoon, while Grosjean locked his wheels and ran into the run-off area at Degner. Both returned to the track and continued their practice programmes.

Bottas completed 31 laps, the most of any driver in the session, and finished tenth. Renault’s Palmer was limited to 13 laps by an electrical problem and ended up 22nd.

Hülkenberg and Pérez occupied seventh and eighth for Force India, with Alonso ending the session ninth. Among the top ten, Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull formed the main competitive groups.

Rosberg opened the Japanese Grand Prix weekend 0.215 seconds ahead of his team-mate. Red Bull had yet to make a timed run on soft tyres, while Ferrari remained around a second behind Mercedes. Further practice would reveal more of each team’s pace.