Rosberg leads the way as Red Bull conserve their pace

2016 Japanese Grand Prix first practice

Posted on

| Written by

Nico Rosberg led a one-two for the Mercedes drivers during the first practice session as Red Bull avoided showing their potential.

Mercedes and Ferrari led the times on the soft rubber but Red Bull did not use the fastest available compounds during the opening session.

Rosberg’s best effort was over a second quicker than any non-Mercedes driver could manage and two-tenths up on his team mate’s time. Behind the Ferraris Daniel Ricciardo was the quicker of the two Red Bulls, 1.6 seconds off

Both Force India drivers were in the top ten having run the soft tyres, unlike rivals Williams and McLaren.

The tricky Suzuka track left some teams with damage to repair. Fernando Alonso’s car got away from him at Spoon early in the session and he went backwards into the barrier. The McLaren driver limped back to the pits with a broken rear wing, but returned to the track later to set the ninth-fastest time.

Not for the first time in recent races, Romain Grosjean had a braking problem on his Haas. He understeered wide in the Degner curves and hit the barrier hard enough to damage his front wing mounting. He too made his way back to the pits, telling his team “the brakes didn’t brake” as he did.

Jolyon Palmer ended the session at the bottom of the times. An electrical problem which limited him to just 13 laps.

Pos. No. Driver Car Best lap Gap Laps
1 6 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1’32.431 24
2 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1’32.646 0.215 21
3 5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1’33.525 1.094 19
4 7 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1’33.817 1.386 17
5 3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull-TAG Heuer 1’34.112 1.681 23
6 33 Max Verstappen Red Bull-TAG Heuer 1’34.379 1.948 26
7 27 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1’34.530 2.099 28
8 11 Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 1’34.767 2.336 30
9 14 Fernando Alonso McLaren-Honda 1’35.003 2.572 10
10 77 Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes 1’35.381 2.950 31
11 26 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1’35.446 3.015 23
12 55 Carlos Sainz Jnr Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1’35.672 3.241 27
13 22 Jenson Button McLaren-Honda 1’35.677 3.246 24
14 8 Romain Grosjean Haas-Ferrari 1’35.688 3.257 17
15 12 Felipe Nasr Sauber-Ferrari 1’35.967 3.536 15
16 19 Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 1’36.169 3.738 23
17 21 Esteban Gutierrez Haas-Ferrari 1’36.219 3.788 21
18 9 Marcus Ericsson Sauber-Ferrari 1’36.294 3.863 19
19 20 Kevin Magnussen Renault 1’36.822 4.391 30
20 31 Esteban Ocon Manor-Mercedes 1’37.797 5.366 29
21 94 Pascal Wehrlein Manor-Mercedes 1’37.966 5.535 24
22 30 Jolyon Palmer Renault 1’37.992 5.561 13

First practice visual gaps

Nico Rosberg – 1’32.431

+0.215 Lewis Hamilton – 1’32.646

+1.094 Sebastian Vettel – 1’33.525

+1.386 Kimi Raikkonen – 1’33.817

+1.681 Daniel Ricciardo – 1’34.112

+1.948 Max Verstappen – 1’34.379

+2.099 Nico Hulkenberg – 1’34.530

+2.336 Sergio Perez – 1’34.767

+2.572 Fernando Alonso – 1’35.003

+2.950 Valtteri Bottas – 1’35.381

+3.015 Daniil Kvyat – 1’35.446

+3.241 Carlos Sainz Jnr – 1’35.672

+3.246 Jenson Button – 1’35.677

+3.257 Romain Grosjean – 1’35.688

+3.536 Felipe Nasr – 1’35.967

+3.738 Felipe Massa – 1’36.169

+3.788 Esteban Gutierrez – 1’36.219

+3.863 Marcus Ericsson – 1’36.294

+4.391 Kevin Magnussen – 1’36.822

+5.366 Esteban Ocon – 1’37.797

+5.535 Pascal Wehrlein – 1’37.966

+5.561 Jolyon Palmer – 1’37.992

Drivers more then ten seconds off the pace omitted.

2016 Japanese Grand Prix

Browse all 2016 Japanese Grand Prix articles

2016 F1 practice sessions

    Browse all 2016 F1 practice results

    Author information

    Keith Collantine
    Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

    Got a potential story, tip or enquiry? Find out more about RaceFans and contact us here.

    6 comments on “Rosberg leads the way as Red Bull conserve their pace”

    1. Profile Photo

      Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
      7th October 2016, 3:57

      From the creators of “the brakes breaked”, this weekend we have “the brakes didn’t brake”.

      Haas really needs to improve on this. It must not be funny to get in a car that you don’t know how’s going to react while braking.

      1. Profile Photo

        zimkazimka (@zimkazimka)
        7th October 2016, 5:21

        Also featuring “a baby octopus”.

      2. Profile Photo

        BasCB (@bascb)
        7th October 2016, 5:44

        Indeed, a serious issue with those brakes.

        1. nase
          7th October 2016, 7:33

          @bascb
          Yeah, that’s pretty worrying. The failure at Sepang was already very scary, and if Haas can’t make sure this won’t happen again, because who knows what might’ve happened had there not been hundreds of metres of obstacle-free runoff, I’d be feeling rather uneasy in Grosjean’s place as well.

    2. Biggsy
      7th October 2016, 4:51

      I have a feeling we might see McLaren finish ahead of Williams on pure pace this weekend…
      At least Fernando’s due to new PU spec.

    3. BOSS
      7th October 2016, 5:28

      Go Lewus go!

    Comments are closed.