Japanese Grand Prix: Friday Practice Recap

Rain dominated FP1 but with potentially similar conditions expected on Sunday it was a key opportunity to gain valuable wet data. Kevin Magnussen was first on-track venturing out on the Cinturato Blue extreme wet weather tires, followed soon after by Mick Schumacher. A change to the Green intermediate compound followed as conditions improved slightly.

Magnussen duly set his fastest lap of 1:43.258 (P5) with Schumacher clocking a 1:43.761 (P7). Schumacher’s session, his first at Suzuka, was blighted by an off at Turn 8 after the checkered flag – the German unharmed but contact with the barriers resulting in significant damage to his VF-22.

Schumacher was subsequently unable to participate in FP2 later in the afternoon as a chassis change was required following his earlier accident. With his teammate sitting out the rain-soaked session, Magnussen again led the way and he captured P5 on the timesheets once more.

With an opening stint on the Blue extreme tires, Magnussen switched to the intermediates and the Dane banked a best lap of 1:43.187 on his second outing on the compound. 

Haas F1 Team ran a total of 45 laps on Friday across FP1 and FP2 – 32 by Magnussen and 13 by Schumacher.

Kevin Magnussen, Driver No. 20, Haas F1 Team

“It was wet all day today so I was worried we weren’t going to get any running but actually it was kind of good conditions for intermediates, at points it was a bit too much for them, but we got quite a few laps in. I’m happy for the fans who came out to watch the cars go round to actually see some running.”

 

Mick Schumacher, Driver No. 47, Haas F1 Team

“It was quite wet and unfortunately, we had an aquaplaning moment which ended up in us losing the rear. We’ve lost time and we’ve got to do a big job tomorrow, but the track is great, the car felt great today so hopefully we’re in a good position. Tomorrow should be dry so we’ll see what we can do from there.”

 

Guenther Steiner, Team Principal, Haas F1 Team

“It was a mixed day today. The actual testing in FP1 and FP2 was good but unfortunately Mick could only do FP1 because on the way back from his practice start, he crashed pretty heavily and we couldn’t fix it for FP2. The test program from Kevin was good and we got time to do some major changes on the car, to do a back-to-back of different set-ups thanks to the additional 30 minutes which were supposed to be for the prototype tire test. Tomorrow we will again have two cars out running in FP3 and we’ll go from there.”
 

Today's Data

Event: Free Practice 1 & 2 for the Japanese Grand Prix – Friday October 7
Location: Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka
Layout: 5.807-kilometer (3.608-mile), 18-turn circuit
FP1 & FP2 Weather: Rain
Drivers: Kevin Magnussen & Mick Schumacher 

Free Practice 1 Rundown:

Magnussen: 5th overall (1:43.258), 15 laps completed
Schumacher: 7th overall (1:43.761), 13 laps completed
Fastest: Fernando Alonso of Alpine (1:42.248)

Free Practice 2 Rundown:

Magnussen: 5th overall (1:43.187), 17 laps completed
Schumacher: 20th overall (No Time) – Did Not Participate
Fastest: George Russell of Mercedes (1:41.935)