Max Verstappen bounced back from his early brake-fire inspired exit in Australia to set the fastest time in Friday practice for the Japanese Grand Prix at the Suzuka International Racing Course.
Verstappen's time of 1:30.056s in the first session put him almost two tenths clear of his Red Bull team mate Sergio Perez. Subsequent rain showers in the afternoon meant that neither car turned a wheel in FP2.
Despite the limited running, Verstappen declared himself happy with the state of his car after the first day, with only a one hour final practice remaining before qualifying.
"There's still a few things to look at and try, but overall [we're] quite happy with that FP1," he confirmed. "It was a good start for us. The balance wasn't too far out, that's always a great way to start."
However Verstappen admitted that it looked like Red Bull's rivals were inching every closer as the weeks go by.
"Already the whole year over one lap it seems like people have definitely got closer," he acknowledged, after Carlos Sainz, George Russell and Lewis Hamilton all finished the session within half a second of his best lap time.
"I think in general over one lap it seems like people have got closer," he said. "For the long run pace I have no idea, but I don't expect gaps like there were here last year.
"In general, I am quite satisfied with the first session," he continued. "We couldn't do anything in the second free practice session, but there are still a few things we have to look at and try out.
"Suzuka is usually a good track for the Team, so we are confident going into the weekend," he added.
Perez agreed with Verstappen that it has been a good session overall for Red Bull. “I was pleased with the car, I think we got it in a nice window. We have made some changes ahead of this race, and it feels good.
“I think we did the most we could in FP1," he continued. "We obviously did some changes for FP2 which unfortunately we didn’t get a nice read.
"We were expecting a better P2 but unfortunately the rain prevented us from running and that meant we couldn’t get any more learnings," he noted. "I think we’re in a very similar boat to a lot of people around us,
"I think we have a good base from the morning though, we just have to try and dial up a bit of balance and hopefully we can be in a nice position," he said. "We are confident for this weekend; I think the car is working well.
"It will be a very busy practice session tomorrow. We're going to be doing some high fuel runs and then go into quali prep, so it should be an interesting morning."
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