Vettel fastest as Hamilton crashes in FP1
Sebastian Vettel picked up where he left off after winning last year’s Japanese Grand Prix, setting the fastest time in first practice.
But title rival Lewis Hamilton hit trouble when he crashed at Degner halfway through the session. He damaged the front-left corner of his McLaren and took no further part in the session.
Team mate Jenson Button had a similar moment in the dying minutes of the session but survived without hitting the barriers.
Mark Webber kept his team mate honest, lapping within five hundredths of a second of Vettel as Red Bull confirmed pre-race expectations by topping the times sheets.
Their closest rival, Robert Kubica in the Renault, was half a second slower, with Adrian Sutil a further half a second adrift.
Despite missing half the session Hamilton still had the fifth-fastest time. Behind him the Williams pair were separated by just three-hundredths of a second.
Michael Schumacher was eighth on his return to Suzuka. Nick Heidfeld and Nico Rosberg completed the top ten.
Ferrari had a quiet session with Felipe Massa 11th and Fernando Alonso 13th.
| Pos. | Car | Driver | Car | Best lap | Gap | Laps |
| 1 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull-Renault | 1’32.585 | 23 | |
| 2 | 6 | Mark Webber | Red Bull-Renault | 1’32.633 | 0.048 | 23 |
| 3 | 11 | Robert Kubica | Renault | 1’33.129 | 0.544 | 23 |
| 4 | 14 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | 1’33.639 | 1.054 | 13 |
| 5 | 2 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 1’33.643 | 1.058 | 9 |
| 6 | 9 | Rubens Barrichello | Williams-Cosworth | 1’33.677 | 1.092 | 21 |
| 7 | 10 | Nico Hülkenberg | Williams-Cosworth | 1’33.707 | 1.122 | 24 |
| 8 | 3 | Michael Schumacher | Mercedes | 1’33.739 | 1.154 | 20 |
| 9 | 22 | Nick Heidfeld | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’33.791 | 1.206 | 23 |
| 10 | 4 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1’33.831 | 1.246 | 9 |
| 11 | 7 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1’33.929 | 1.344 | 25 |
| 12 | 1 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 1’34.042 | 1.457 | 19 |
| 13 | 8 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1’34.169 | 1.584 | 23 |
| 14 | 23 | Kamui Kobayashi | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’34.271 | 1.686 | 19 |
| 15 | 12 | Vitaly Petrov | Renault | 1’34.373 | 1.788 | 24 |
| 16 | 15 | Vitantonio Liuzzi | Force India-Mercedes | 1’34.379 | 1.794 | 21 |
| 17 | 16 | Sebastien Buemi | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1’34.991 | 2.406 | 26 |
| 18 | 17 | Jaime Alguersuari | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1’35.684 | 3.099 | 22 |
| 19 | 19 | Heikki Kovalainen | Lotus-Cosworth | 1’36.949 | 4.364 | 25 |
| 20 | 24 | Timo Glock | Virgin-Cosworth | 1’37.329 | 4.744 | 17 |
| 21 | 18 | Jarno Trulli | Lotus-Cosworth | 1’37.388 | 4.803 | 23 |
| 22 | 25 | Jerome d’Ambrosio | Virgin-Cosworth | 1’37.778 | 5.193 | 23 |
| 23 | 21 | Bruno Senna | HRT-Cosworth | 1’38.814 | 6.229 | 28 |
| 24 | 20 | Sakon Yamamoto | HRT-Cosworth | 1’39.443 | 6.858 | 26 |
2010 Japanese Grand Prix
- Force India pair expect busy Friday
- Technical review: Japanese Grand Prix
- Tom Hitchings watches the Japanese GP at Suzuka
- Massa pleased by di Montezemolo’s support
- Hamilton takes heart from McLaren pace
- Mercedes admit missed opportunity to keep Schumacher in front of Rosberg
- Alonso says five drivers can still win title
- 2010 Japanese Grand Prix: the complete F1 Fanatic race weekend review
- Who was the best driver of the Japanese Grand Prix weekend? (Poll)
- Dominant win for Vettel piles pressure on Webber (Red Bull race review)
Image © Red Bull/Getty images
wasiF1 said on 8th October 2010, 11:32
Back luck for Hamilton,seeing at the footage I have to blame him can’t make mistakes like this at this stage of the championship. I believe it will be Red Bulls race to loose to Alonso but Kubica can surprised a few just as he did in Belgium.
miguelF1O (@) said on 9th October 2010, 0:09
congrats to f1fanatic.co.uk mentioned twice today at bbc