Suzuka, 3 October – There is no such thing as a “normal” day at Suzuka, because this 5.807 kilometre long track presents so many difficult yet fascinating challenges. But in as much as everything proceeded quite smoothly in the Scuderia Ferrari camp, this could be seen as a normal Friday, during which both drivers felt they had got off on the right foot. Apart from a small technical glitch on Kimi Raikkonen’s car, both F14 Ts were trouble free as the Finn and team-mate Fernando Alonso reacquainted themselves with this unusual figure-of-eight layout. What did upset the Ferrari programme was the misfortune of others, as crashes and mechanical breakdowns led to more than usual yellow and even red flags being waved, to stop the action while cars were towed away. Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo and Caterham’s Kamui Kobayashi had the most dramatic accidents, fortunately without injury for either man.
At the end of the day, the Finn was sixth fastest, having completed a total of 38 laps, while the Spaniard was seventh with 45 laps to his name.
At the front of the Friday “grid” we find the usual Mercedes duo, Nico Rosberg having topped the time sheet in FP1 and championship leader Lewis Hamilton fastest in the afternoon. Between these pair and Kimi in FP2 came the Williams of Valtteri Bottas, with Jenson Button fourth for McLaren and Sebastian Vettel fifth for Red Bull Racing.
As has often been the case in Japan, the weather is the main talking point at the moment, with Typhoon Phanfone due to hit mainland Japan with considerable force on Sunday and Monday. There has even been talk of changing the start time of the race, but at the moment, no decision has been made. Tomorrow’s qualifying is expected to be run in the dry.