Nico Rosberg topped the timing sheets on Friday morning in the first practice session ahead of Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix.
The Mercedes man posted a lap time of 1:32.431, putting him just over two tenths clear of team-mate Lewis Hamilton.
Romain Grosjean was the first man on track, but soon found himself in trouble, sliding off the track at Degner 2, with what appeared to be a brake issue similar to the one that eliminated him from last weekend's Malaysia Grand Prix.
He was not the only driver in trouble, with McLaren's Fernando Alonso spinning off the track just before the half hour mark after losing the rear end of the car.
The huge snap of oversteer pitched him into the barriers and broke part of the rear wing, although he was able to return to the pits under his own power, and later returned to the track, posting the ninth-best time.
Several other drivers went off-track during the 90-minute session, including Felipe Massa, who experienced understeer in his Williams, and Max Verstappen, who had a scare at the same place as Alonso, but in less severe fashion.
As the session drew to a close it was Rosberg who topped the sheets ahead of Hamilton, with Ferrari duo Sebastian Vettel and Raikkonen third and fourth. The Red Bull pair were next, running the medium tyre unlike the top four, who all ran soft tyres.
Behind Daniel Ricciardo and Verstappen were the Force Indias of Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez, the latter testing the halo device during the session. Alosno and Valtteri Bottas rounded out the top 10.
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