Sebastian Vettel led second practice as several other drivers had spins and crashes during the session.
Team mate Mark Webber made it a Red Bull one-two on Friday afternoon at Suzuka despite twice being held up by Force Indias.
Mercedes, quickest in the first session, could only manage third-best time with Nico Rosberg. The two Lotuses were next, Romain Grosjean behind Kimi Raikkonen after making a mistake at Degner 2 on his first flying lap.
Just 21 cars participated as Jules Bianchi was unable to participate following his crash in the first session.
Within the first half hour two drivers had joined Bianchi on the sidelines. Pastor Maldonado went off at Degner 2 as the Marussia driver had done and become stuck in the gravel.
The next driver to crash was Sergio Perez. The McLaren driver lost control of his car on the way into Spoon, making heavy contact with the barrier.
Several other drivers lost control without hitting anything. Alonso ended up pointing in the wrong direction at Degner 2 after hitting the kerb in the preceding corner and spinning. That cost him his best run on the medium tyre.
Raikkonen’s session came to an end early in his long run when he spun into a gravel trap at Dunlop corner and was unable to rejoin the circuit.
2013 Japanese Grand Prix
- Grosjean voted Driver of the Weekend for first time
- Webber still has doubts over Japanese GP strategy
- Japanese Grand Prix gets average rating for 2013
- 2013 Japanese Grand Prix team radio transcript
- 2013 Japanese Grand Prix fans’ video gallery
Todd (@braketurnaccelerate)
11th October 2013, 7:35
Massa 0.4 up on Alonso? Say it ain’t so!
Mike Dee (@mike-dee)
11th October 2013, 7:41
It says in the article that Alonso spun on his best lap.
MagillaGorilla (@magillagorilla)
11th October 2013, 10:09
@mike-dee which is funny cause then it would no longer be his “best” lap, lol.
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
12th October 2013, 0:56
His time was on hards.
Kingshark (@kingshark)
11th October 2013, 7:41
Red Bull on top as usual, and abysmal pace from Ferrari. 2014 can’t come soon enough.
MagillaGorilla (@magillagorilla)
11th October 2013, 10:09
@kingshark and what happens if your Ferrari’s are beat yet again next year?
Ivan B (@njoydesign)
11th October 2013, 10:24
we will clench our fists expecting 2015 to be better. We’re used to it.
We were patient in 1996-1999 and look how that turned out =)
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
11th October 2013, 10:56
@njoydesign yeah but 1997 and 1999 were quite close in terms of performance… :P
Maybe you’ll take another 21 years to win a championship again :P
Ivan B (@njoydesign)
11th October 2013, 11:10
I surely hope not =) however the wait is what makes it sweeter when it comes.
David not Coulthard (@)
11th October 2013, 14:16
So……a guaranteed championship in MMXXVIII? I’ve got news for you, La Gazetta dello Sport! :)
palmerstoneroad (@palmerstoneroad)
11th October 2013, 15:07
It will take less for Ferrari than Williams, Benetton, Braham and other “garagisti” team.
Dwight_js
11th October 2013, 22:25
“We were patient in 1996-1999 and look how that turned out =)”
So basically you’re waiting for Vettel? ;)
GeorgeTuk (@georgetuk)
11th October 2013, 14:44
Ha ha, love it!
Kingshark (@kingshark)
11th October 2013, 22:04
@magillagorilla
There’s always 2015, and if that fails, there’s 2016, and 2017, and 2018…
karter22 (@karter22)
11th October 2013, 12:15
@kingshark
Hear, hear!!!
@njoydesign
Said like a true tifosi!
@fer-no65
I would not expect any less coming from you with regards to Ferrari! Time will tell…
I predict that MERC will end up constructors runner up and Ferrari a close third. It seems that´s the way the “wind” is blowing for some rea$on$… I just hope ALO and MAS buck up and dish out great performances this sunday! FORZA FERRARI!!!!
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
11th October 2013, 17:13
@karter22 what do you mean? I like Ferrari !
Kingshark (@kingshark)
11th October 2013, 22:03
@fer-no65
I’d say that Ferrari were closer to the top team in 1998 than they were in 1997, although in both years it was Schumi’s magic that helped the team achieve more than it probably should have. ;-)
Mike Dee (@mike-dee)
11th October 2013, 7:42
OK, for the predictions, pole and win looks easy to predict now. The rest of the top 5 are the problem. I keep putting Mark Webber high up and he almost never ends up there…
Sri Harsha (@harsha)
11th October 2013, 7:46
Ross Brawn earlier stated that Mediums need to Last for 16 to 17 Laps So that they can carry on Two Prime stints. But it seems Mediums last for 12 laps or so. Is 2 Stopper Possible this time around?
Red Andy (@red-andy)
11th October 2013, 7:48
Good to see a track that punishes mistakes for once. A challenge for the drivers.
Stružák
11th October 2013, 7:54
True story indeed… I am annoyed of the track where you can make almost any kind of mistake without being seriously punished (apart from losing time).
BasCB (@bascb)
11th October 2013, 8:15
Yes, that was the best part of the weekend so far for me too @red-andy.
panache (@panache)
11th October 2013, 12:37
Indeed and this just confirms that Button was spot on with his comments in the build up to this weekend. On tracks like Suzuka his consistency and lack of mistakes really show. He would be perfectly suited to endurance racing and personally I hope to see him compete in LeMans 24 at least once he retires from F1.
I just wish modern tracks would be adapted to punish drivers who consistently push past the limits, outbraking themselves and making mistakes. That being said, it’s clearly not a simple thing to achieve whilst maintaining reasonable track safety. Perez’ accident at Spoon was quite scary to watch to be honest and the impact must have really shocked his body.
Sumedh
11th October 2013, 7:53
This track really punishes the drivers, doesn’t it?
Libellula (@ladyf1fanatic)
11th October 2013, 8:14
It’s astounding how nobody can give a little fight to the Bulls… Congrats Seb indeed, it’s well deserved.
Cam (@cjm76)
11th October 2013, 8:56
Daniel Ricciardo up there YET AGAIN! Bring on next year.
Bosley (@)
11th October 2013, 8:58
Got to remember this is Free practice, no qualifying.
I remember once a Marussia topped a free practice session once.
Cam (@cjm76)
11th October 2013, 9:03
Yes I understand it’s not qualifying. Thanks for that. He is 0.6 ahead of his team-mate.
medicine_man (@vettel81)
11th October 2013, 10:00
Vettel usually shines at Free Partices then he is nowhere at Qualitfying. Let’s be serious, last year’s pole time was 3 seconds faster – there is plenty of room to improve for each drivers.
Mike Dee (@mike-dee)
11th October 2013, 10:08
I don’t really remember Vettel being nowhere in Qualifying!
medicine_man (@vettel81)
11th October 2013, 10:14
Sarcasm
MagillaGorilla (@magillagorilla)
11th October 2013, 10:11
@vettel81 You seem to be thinking about the first half of the year when MGP was the top dog in Quali, and now it can go either or but usually Vettel edges out.
medicine_man (@vettel81)
11th October 2013, 10:30
This track nearly tolerates no faults .. If Hamilton is in the right mood and Mercedes finds a brilliant setup they can be near the Red Bulls.
coefficient (@coefficient)
11th October 2013, 10:29
Yea, Vettel sucks in quali! He always ends up in the same position and rarely manages to occupy any of the other available slots. ;-)
medicine_man (@vettel81)
11th October 2013, 10:49
@coefficient You got my point :)
LawFish (@lawfish)
11th October 2013, 10:56
You’d think he get bored in that spot and want to challenge himself a little.
Zoltan Czibula (@ganajman)
11th October 2013, 12:07
Yea, and what’s worse after that he fails to overtake anyone for gaining at least one position.
Paul
11th October 2013, 9:47
Another F1 race i wont be watching! Might as well go ahead and put up the race results now. At least there is some half decent motor racing in MotoGP still.
Cant see 2014 being much different either if Red bull have this traction control Kers system!
Lari
11th October 2013, 10:22
Time to stop following F1 sites and stop watching F1 then. o/
Paul
11th October 2013, 10:35
It may well be indeed. I only popped on in hope that someone else other than Vettel would be top. If this keeps up and F1 goes solely to Sky (which will happen over the next few years) numbers will drop significantly.
Dave (@)
11th October 2013, 10:29
I can think of 22 reasons to watch the GP – 21 drivers who are not Vettel, and the fact it’s Suzuka.
coefficient (@coefficient)
11th October 2013, 11:09
Try BSB. the fight between Alex Lowes and Shane Byrne is getting super tense!
Paul
11th October 2013, 12:14
I have been watching that too. I must agree with you, some epic battling there.
fangio85 (@fangio85)
11th October 2013, 11:52
Weve got the bathurst 1000 v8 supercar race here in aus on the same day. Much closer racing (14 different winners this year so far). I do love f1 but I don’t think this gp will have anything on bathurst for excitement this year
Max Jacobson (@vettel1)
11th October 2013, 10:40
Red Bull and Mercedes seem the closest they’ve been since Hungary, based solely on practice form. I wouldn’t put it against Red Bull to be holding some pace in reserve however, considering their imperious form here in past seasons.
Patrick (@paeschli)
11th October 2013, 12:42
Lotus has achnace if they make a 2 stop strategy work, other teams are struggling a lot with their tyres
MarkM (@mpmark)
11th October 2013, 13:39
This is why these older tracks are great! They weed out the super talented to the “regulars”
MarkM (@mpmark)
11th October 2013, 13:42
Looks like we are up for a Korea repeat, Red Bull fastest and Merc second for the start, but Red Bull and Lotus for the finish.
OmarR-Pepper (@)
11th October 2013, 13:58
Quite the typical weekend lately (for my hapiness!!!)
1st practice :Mercedes sets best times
2nd and 3rd: Red Bull sets best times
Quali: Vettel on pole, Hamilton 2nd or 3rd
Race: Vettel pulls 2 secs ahead on first lap, bye DRS chances. Fun watching who is second and other battles.
Ron (@rcorporon)
11th October 2013, 21:04
Suzuka is easily my favourite track in the world. It really manages to force a driver to be perfect.
Can’t wait for the race!