Red Bull Racing’s Sebastian Vettel continued his untouchable form as he posted the fastest time in Friday practice for the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka.
The German, who could wrap up his fourth consecutive Formula One crown this weekend, was once again the benchmark for the rest of the paddock, as he set a 1:33.852s effort.
He was the only driver to dip into the 1:33s bracket.
Team-mate Mark Webber completed a Red Bull one-two in FP2 while setting the second fastest time of the day in the process.
Mercedes Nico Rosberg posted the third fastest time.
While Vettel produced the best lap of the day, FP1 belonged to Mercedes with Lewis Hamilton heading a one-two, showing the pace they showed in Korea last week was no fluke.
Hamilton’s effort of 1:34.157s was a full three tenths of a second slower than Vettel’s best in FP2.
Hamilton was unable to repeat his FP1 form finishing the day sixth in FP2, posting a slower time, while his team-mate Rosberg improved, finishing the session in third.
Kimi Raikkonen was fourth fastest ahead of Romain Grosjean in fifth.
Toro Rosso’s Daniel Ricciardo was seventh fastest continuing his run of strong form while title contender Fernando Alonso struggled.
He could only fractionally improve his FP1 time which was only good enough for 11th fastest in FP2.
Both free practice sessions were littered with incidents, with the majority occurring in FP2.
Hamilton and Alonso were lucky to escape after running off course at the Degner curves, while the Lotus of Raikkonen managed to beach itself, prematurely ending his session.
It proved to be a difficult day for McLaren with Jenson Button just about breaking into the top 10.
However, Sergio Perez’s day was far worse.
The Mexican, who is yet to be confirmed at the Woking team for next season, suffered a heavy shunt at the Spoon curves ruling him out of the majority of FP2.
The magnitude of the crash saw Perez requiring a visit to the doctor and he was seen resting his arm on ice in the McLaren garage.
Also in the wars were Williams’ Pastor Maldonado Marussia’s Jules Bianchi with the latter unable to take part in FP2.
Free practice 2
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:34.157s | |
| 2 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:34.487 | +0.330s |
| 3 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull-Renault | 1:34.768 | +0.611 |
| 4 | Mark Webber | Red Bull-Renault | 1:34.787 | +0.630 |
| 5 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1:35.126 | +0.969 |
| 6 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1:35.154 | +0.997 |
| 7 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Renault | 1:35.179 | +1.022 |
| 8 | Kimi Raikkonen | Lotus-Renault | 1:35.364 | +1.207 |
| 9 | Sergio Perez | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:35.450 | +1.293 |
| 10 | Daniel Ricciardo | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1:35.635 | +1.478 |
| 11 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:35.868 | +1.711 |
| 12 | Nico Hülkenberg | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:35.900 | +1.743 |
| 13 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1:36.066 | +1.909 |
| 14 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | 1:36.165 | +2.008 |
| 15 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams-Renault | 1:36.178 | +2.021 |
| 16 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams-Renault | 1:36.340 | +2.183 |
| 17 | Paul Di Resta | Force India-Mercedes | 1:36.399 | +2.242 |
| 18 | Esteban Gutierrez | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:36.760 | +2.603 |
| 19 | Heikki Kovalainen | Caterham-Renault | 1:37.595 | +3.438 |
| 20 | Jules Bianchi | Marussia-Cosworth | 1:37.629 | +3.472 |
| 21 | Giedo van der Garde | Caterham-Renault | 1:38.025 | +3.868 |
| 22 | Max Chilton | Marussia-Cosworth | 1:38.763 | +4.606 |
Free practice 2
| 1 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull-Renault | 1:33.852s | |
| 2 | Mark Webber | Red Bull-Renault | 1:34.020 | +0.168s |
| 3 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:34.114 | 0.262 |
| 4 | Kimi Raikkonen | Lotus-Renault | 1:34.202 | 0.350 |
| 5 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Renault | 1:34.411 | 0.559 |
| 6 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:34.442 | 0.590 |
| 7 | Daniel Ricciardo | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1:34.473 | 0.621 |
| 8 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1:34.698 | 0.846 |
| 9 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:34.912 | 1.060 |
| 10 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1:35.087 | 1.235 |
| 11 | Esteban Gutierrez | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:35.089 | 1.237 |
| 12 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1:35.109 | +1.257 |
| 13 | Nico Hulkenberg | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:35.182 | +1.330 |
| 14 | Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes | 1:35.275 | +1.423 |
| 15 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | 1:35.341 | +1.489 |
| 16 | Sergio Perez | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:35.709 | +1.857 |
| 17 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams-Renault | 1:36.136 | +2.284 |
| 18 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams-Renault | 1:36.722 | +2.870 |
| 19 | Charles Pic | Caterham-Renault | 1:37.630 | +3.778 |
| 20 | Giedo van der Garde | Caterham-Renault | 1:37.905 | +4.053 |
| 21 | Max Chilton | Marussia-Cosworth | 1:38.121 | +4.269 |
