2024 F1 Round 4, Japanese GP FP1: Verstappen Fastest in 1:30.056, Tsunoda Ninth at Home, Iwasa Sixteenth on Practice Debut

The 2024 Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix began with first free practice at Suzuka on the morning of 5 April Beijing time. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen topped the times with a 1:30.056. Team-mate Sergio Pérez was second, 0.181 seconds behind, ahead of Australian Grand Prix winner Carlos Sainz to complete a Red Bull one-two. RB’s Yuki Tsunoda finished ninth at his home event, while Ayumu Iwasa was 16th on his first appearance in an F1 practice session.

Skies were cloudy over Suzuka, but the session began in dry conditions with an air temperature of 17°C and a track temperature of 24°C. Pirelli brought its hardest range of compounds, C1 to C3. Every team except Mercedes and Haas introduced upgrades.

Both Mercedes drivers were surprisingly close behind the top three. Although Suzuka has only two slow corners to suit the Silver Arrows’ strengths, George Russell and Lewis Hamilton finished fourth and fifth respectively. Tsunoda slotted between the two McLarens in ninth, just 0.065 seconds behind eighth-placed Oscar Piastri and 0.010 seconds ahead of tenth-placed Lando Norris. Neither McLaren driver, however, managed a clean flying lap on soft tyres because of traffic, leaving their true pace uncertain.

Around halfway through the session, Williams driver Logan Sargeant crashed after putting his right-hand wheels onto the gravel beyond the exit of Turn 7, bringing out a red flag for 11 minutes. Team principal James Vowles said the chassis was undamaged, but virtually every other component, including the suspension and gearbox, had suffered damage. Sargeant consequently missed FP2. Williams would not have a spare chassis before Miami, so further damage could leave the team with only one car, as in Australia. Sargeant was using the monocoque that Alexander Albon had crashed in Australia two weeks earlier and which had since been repaired.

RB fulfilled a young-driver running requirement at Honda’s home event, with Iwasa replacing Daniel Ricciardo in the VCARB 01. He completed 22 laps and finished 16th, 0.873 seconds behind team-mate Tsunoda. Aston Martin, running a new floor and diffuser, fitted Lance Stroll’s car with an aerodynamic testing rake but had to recall him immediately when part of it broke. Alpine, at the bottom of the constructors’ standings, brought several small upgrades and, more significantly, reduced its car’s weight. Esteban Ocon finished 11th, while Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu were 14th and 18th respectively.