Sainz tops wet first Japanese GP practice

The Japanese Grand Prix weekend got off to a wet start as Carlos Sainz topped a first practice session which saw many drivers fail to set times.

Persistent rain at Suzuka since Thursday morning continued throughout the opening session, with drivers opting to complete the majority of the early running on full wet tyres. Nico Rosberg was the first to have an excursion in the tricky conditions as he skipped part of the final chicane, while Kimi Raikkonen soon went wide at Spoon.

With further running came an improvement in track conditions and Valtteri Bottas was the first driver to make the switch to intermediate tyres, though he nearly came to regret the move. Exiting Turn 2, Bottas almost lost the rear on a river of water running across the track and pulled off an impressive save as the Williams tried to swap ends twice.

Bottas later went wide at 130R as the intermediates proved difficult in the conditions with rain continuing to fall, while team-mate Felipe Massa also went off at Degner 2 and had a trip through the gravel.

While the Williams pair struggled on the intermediates, the two Toro Rosso drivers were much more confident as they traded lap times for a spell. With Daniil Kvyat going quickest, Sainz then pulled out the lap which would top the times as he posted a 1:49.434. Kvyat's lap - 0.504s slower - was the only other time under the 1m50s mark.

Nico Rosberg was third for Mercedes and the highest placed wet tyre runner on a 1:50.077, with Sebastian Vettel finishing fourth on intermediates, one second adrift of Sainz. Lewis Hamilton was fifth after one run to set a timed lap, ending the session 1.2s off the pace and with just six laps to his name.

Verstappen and Raikkonen were the only other drivers within two seconds of Sainz, while the Finn almost ended the session in the barrier after sliding wide at Turn 2 and having to catch his Ferrari before it spun. The conditions naturally resulted in a big spread of lap times with Jenson Button in 12th some 6.2s off the pace. However, Button set his time early before spending much of the session in the garage.

Eight drivers failed to set times during the session, with Daniel Ricciardo and the two Lotus drivers only registering a single installation lap. For Lotus, the slow start comes after a busy night setting up its garage after the late delivery of freight on Thursday, while the team remains locked out of its hospitality unit due to financial issues.

AS IT HAPPENED: Japanese Grand Prix FP1

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