Verstappen quickest as Sargeant crashes in opening practice session

Red Bull set the pace in the opening practice session for the Japanese Grand Prix, while Logan Sargeant suffered a big crash in his Williams.

Max Verstappen produced the quickest time in a disrupted opening hour of running with 1’30.056. That left him just under two tenths of a second faster than team mate Sergio Perez with Carlos Sainz Jnr third for Ferrari.

But the session was marred by another crash for Williams when Sargeant ran wide and onto the grass at the Dunlop Curve, resulting in him spinning into the barriers. He damaged the front and rear of his FW46, giving his team another headache as they remain without a spare chassis following Alexander Albon’s crash in Australia two weeks ago.

Overcast skies and cool conditions greeted drivers for the first grand prix session at Suzuka to be held in the month of April. Red Bull junior Ayumu Iwasa had the privilege of driving Daniel Ricciardo’s RB for the opening practice session of the weekend and naturally was one of the first drivers on track when the session began. The start of Iwasa’s session was slightly delayed in the garage while mechanics worked on the car, but was eventually able to take to the circuit to run a full programme.

Lewis Hamilton was the quickest at the mid point of the session having been the only driver to complete a lap on the soft tyres at that point. Practice was then brought to a halt with a red flag after Sargeant ran wide at the Dunlop Curve and spun into the barriers.

After a delay of around 10 minutes, the session resumed with just under 20 minutes remaining. Many teams tried out the soft tyres, with Verstappen setting the quickest time of the session with a 1’30.056. The session ended with the world champion quickest, just under two tenths ahead of team mate Perez.

Sainz was third-fastest for Ferrari ahead of the two Mercedes drivers, George Russell and Hamilton. Charles Leclerc was sixth in the second Ferrari, with Fernando Alonso seventh.

The McLaren pair, who qualified strongly at this race last year, were further down the order as their first laps on soft tyres were interrupted by Sargeant’s crash. Oscar Piastri was eighth ahead of RB’s Yuki Tsunoda and Lando Norris completing the top 10 in the other McLaren. Iwasa was 16th during his free practice run out.

Naturally, Sargeant had the fewest laps in the session with just ten prior to his accident, while Lance Stroll had the fewest of drivers who completed the entire session with 17, despite carrying new parts on his Aston Martin. Hamilton, Piastri and Pierre Gasly all had the most laps, with 23.

Nico Hulkenberg received a black-and-white warning flag from race control for crossing the white pit exit line as he overtook Tsunoda while they joined the track together.

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2024 Japanese Grand Prix first practice result

P.	#	Driver	Team	Model	Time	Gap	Laps
1	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull-Honda RBPT	RB20	1’30.056		18
2	11	Sergio Perez	Red Bull-Honda RBPT	RB20	1’30.237	0.181	18
3	55	Carlos Sainz Jnr	Ferrari	SF-24	1’30.269	0.213	20
4	63	George Russell	Mercedes	W15	1’30.530	0.474	18
5	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	W15	1’30.543	0.487	23
6	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	SF-24	1’30.558	0.502	18
7	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin-Mercedes	AMR24	1’30.599	0.543	20
8	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren-Mercedes	MCL38	1’31.165	1.109	23
9	22	Yuki Tsunoda	RB-Honda RBPT	01	1’31.230	1.174	20
10	4	Lando Norris	McLaren-Mercedes	MCL38	1’31.240	1.184	22
11	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine-Renault	A524	1’31.935	1.879	19
12	23	Alexander Albon	Williams-Mercedes	FW46	1’31.943	1.887	18
13	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas-Ferrari	VF-24	1’31.958	1.902	19
14	77	Valtteri Bottas	Sauber-Ferrari	C44	1’32.054	1.998	17
15	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin-Mercedes	AMR24	1’32.055	1.999	17
16	40	Ayumu Iwasa	RB-Honda RBPT	01	1’32.103	2.047	22
17	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine-Renault	A524	1’32.277	2.221	23
18	24	Zhou Guanyu	Sauber-Ferrari	C44	1’32.638	2.582	18
19	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas-Ferrari	VF-24	1’32.803	2.747	21
20	2	Logan Sargeant	Williams-Mercedes	FW46	1’33.204	3.148	10

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2024 Japanese Grand Prix

• “Am I in a race here or what?”: How Ferrari aced their Suzuka strategies
• Suzuka showed Mercedes “have a more stable platform” now
• Ferrari’s strategy gains in 2024 are “purely down to the car” – Sainz
• Tsunoda ‘at Verstappen and Alonso’s level’ with Suzuka performance – Marko
• Japan was first race where Red Bull’s winning margin was bigger than last year

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