Normal service has been resumed with Max Verstappen dominating the opening practice session ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix.
The Red Bull driver was six-tenths clear of his nearest rival after the opening hour of running, Carlos Sainz second fastest ahead of Lando Norris, who banked a late lap to demote Charles Leclerc.
A similar lap saw Piastri leap to seventh, McLaren savings its soft tyre run until late in the session.
Scuderia AlphaTauri showed well, Yuki Tsunoda fourth best and Liam Lawson ninth.
It was a performance that was expected, though will be welcomed by those in Milton Keynes given the squad’s difficult Singapore GP.
A queue formed at pit exit ahead of the session opening, such was the enthusiasm to get out on track.
Ferrari spent the opening minutes evaluating its upgrade package, a new floor, which saw Sainz’s car coated with flo vis paint and, after a handful of laps, the driver too.
Expected to be fast heading into the weekend, McLaren displayed good early pace with Oscar Piastri and Norris second and third respectively behind Verstappen inside the opening 15 minutes.
Red Bull was always expected to bounce back from its Singapore slump, the Suzuka circuit playing to the strengths of the RB19.
Verstappen was duly rapid, 1.2s faster than anyone else after 15 minutes, with Sergio Perez rising to second, 0.4s clear of Piastri who slipped to third.
The field spread was large, Logan Sargeant 3.8s off the pace in 17th as Alex Albon, Lance Stroll, and Yuki Tsunoda remained without a timed lap to their names.
Of course, it was early in the session and times were not representative – especially given the presence of a prototype tyre.
“On Friday, all the teams will get the chance to test a new version of the C2 compound, with a view to homologating it for next season,” Pirelli’s Mario Isola had explained ahead of the weekend.
“This latest evolution should provide more grip than the current C2, and so fit in more coherently between the C1 and C3.
“For the first two free practice sessions, each driver will have two additional sets of tyres, compared to the usual 13 sets per weekend.
“This test is part of a development programme that was recently defined for 2024 and will continue with a new C4 compound to be tested on track during the Mexican Grand Prix weekend.”
The blue-walled option was, therefore, effectively a set of tweaked yellow-walled C2 rubber, sitting in the middle of Pirelli’s selection in terms of tyre allocation for this weekend.
Swapping onto the soft tyres, Verstappen improved to 1:341.647s to remain fastest.
Ferrari showed well on the softer tyres too, Sainz slotting in second and Leclerc third, though neither within 0.6s of the championship leader.
Aston Martin, Williams, Haas, and Mercedes were also represented in the top 10.
Piastri slipped to 17th prior to his low fuel run, rising to 12th with a 1:33.761s with 15 minutes remaining.
Still, he was on the prototype tyres, the Australian’s lap only 0.2s away from Norris who’d slipped down to 10th.
Liam Lawson meanwhile was as high as fifth when he recorded his 1:33.005s only to be bumped down the order as Norris and Albon both improved soon after.
There was promising pace in the Scuderia AlphaTauri, which had a significant aerodynamic upgrade at the Singapore Grand Prix, as Yuki Tsunoda went fourth best.
Set with around 10 minutes remaining, it signalled the end of the effort laps, settling the order for the session, as teams returned to their own programmes.
That saw all four tyre choices on track, including the prototype.
Verstappen therefore headed the opening session with ease over Singapore winner Sainz and Norris.
The came Leclerc, Tsunoda, Alonso, Piastri, Albon, Lawson, and Lance Stroll.
Neither Mercedes were in the top 10, George Russell best in 13th, three spots up from team-mate Lewis Hamilton, while Perez was 11th – 1.3s away from his team-mate.
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