Nico Rosberg pipped Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton to the fastest first practice lap by just 0.151 seconds for this weekend’s 2014 Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix.
Fernando Alonso was third quickest, albeit half a second down, whilst Valtteri Bottas split the two Ferraris as the gap behind Alonso grew substantially with Kimi Raikkonen 1.2 seconds behind his team-mate in fifth.
Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo split the two McLarens with Kevin Magnussen leading the way in sixth. Sebastian Vettel and Daniil Kvyat completed the top ten.
Caterham showed promise as a new front-wing for this race has – as they predicted – lifted them clear of main rival Marussia. Marcus Ericsson was nearly 1.5 seconds quicker than Roberto Mehri, Jules Bianchi and Max Chilton.
FP1 Full Times – 2014 Japanese Grand Prix:
| # | No. | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | 6 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:35.461 | 27 | |
| 02 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:35.612 | 0.151 | 26 |
| 03 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1:36.037 | 0.576 | 19 |
| 04 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams | 1:36.576 | 1.115 | 25 |
| 05 | 7 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 1:37.187 | 1.726 | 19 |
| 06 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | McLaren | 1:37.327 | 1.866 | 24 |
| 07 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 1:37.466 | 2.005 | 27 |
| 08 | 22 | Jenson Button | McLaren | 1:37.649 | 2.188 | 24 |
| 09 | 1 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull | 1:37.686 | 2.225 | 26 |
| 10 | 26 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso | 1:37.714 | 2.253 | 26 |
| 11 | 19 | Felipe Massa | Williams | 1:38.012 | 2.551 | 22 |
| 12 | 38 | Max Verstappen | Toro Rosso | 1:38.157 | 2.696 | 22 |
| 13 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Force India | 1:38.324 | 2.863 | 10 |
| 14 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India | 1:38.582 | 3.121 | 9 |
| 15 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus | 1:38.851 | 3.390 | 21 |
| 16 | 99 | Adrian Sutil | Sauber | 1:39.046 | 3.585 | 19 |
| 17 | 13 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus | 1:39.097 | 3.636 | 26 |
| 18 | 21 | Esteban Gutierrez | Sauber | 1:39.318 | 3.857 | 18 |
| 19 | 9 | Marcus Ericsson | Caterham | 1:40.031 | 4.570 | 18 |
| 20 | 45 | Roberto Merhi | Caterham | 1:41.472 | 6.011 | 24 |
| 21 | 17 | Jules Bianchi | Marussia | 1:41.580 | 6.119 | 10 |
| 22 | 4 | Max Chilton | Marussia | 1:41.757 | 6.296 | 15 |
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