First practice was dominated by the Red Bull’s with Sebastian Vettel topping the times ahead of his team-mate by just four hundredths.
Robert Kubica and Adrian Sutil sat between the next championship contender, Lewis Hamilton, in fifth. The Brit set an early time but his luck ran out after he ran wide at the Degner curve despite changes to the kerbing to reduce accidents.
His McLaren hit the barriers heavily and ended his first practice session after just 40 minutes.
Jenson Button had a similar scare at the same corner but avoided hitting the barriers, finally finishing 12th.
The Ferrari’s struggled for pace in the first session with Felipe Massa leading Fernando Alonso in 11th and 13th respectively.
Another notable incident, aside from Hamilton’s, was Jaime Alguersuari’s brief off at the hairpin.
Japanese Free Practice 1 Results:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12. | J. Button | McLaren | 1:34.042 |
| 1. | S. Vettel | Red Bull | 1:32.585 |
| 5. | L. Hamilton | McLaren | 1:33.643 |
| 3. | R. Kubica | Renault | 1:33.129 |
| 10. | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:33.831 |
| 2. | M. Webber | Red Bull | 1:32.633 |
| 16. | V. Liuzzi | Force India | 1:34.379 |
| 13. | F. Alonso | Ferrari | 1:34.169 |
| 11. | F. Massa | Ferrari | 1:33.929 |
| 8. | M Schumacher | Mercedes | 1:33.739 |
| 7. | N. Hulkenberg | Williams | 1:33.707 |
| 4. | A. Sutil | Force India | 1:33.639 |
| 15. | V. Petrov | Renaut | 1:34.373 |
| 17. | S. Buemi | Toro Rosso | 1:34.991 |
| 9. | N. Heidfeld | Sauber | 1:33.791 |
| 14. | K. Kobayashi | Sauber | 1:34.271 |
| 18. | J. Alguersuari | Toro Rosso | 1:35.684 |
| 20. | T. Glock | Virgin | 1:37.329 |
| 21. | J. Trulli | Lotus | 1:37.388 |
| 22. | J. D’Ambrosio | Virgin | 1:37.778 |
| 19. | H. Kovalainen | Lotus | 1:36.949 |
| 23. | B. Senna | Hispania | 1:38.814 |
| 6. | R. Barrichello | Williams | 1:33.677 |
| 24. | S. Yamamoto | Hispania | 1:39.443 |
