Carlos Sainz Jr is quickest in a rain-affected FP1 in Suzuka

In the first practice session in Japan, Toro Rosso rookie Carlos Sainz Jr topped the timesheets ahead of Daniil Kvyat and Nico Rosberg in a rain-affected session at the Suzuka circuit.

The first few drivers to venture out on track in FP1 were greeted by rivers flowing across some of the corners, but conditions gradually improved as more and more cars went out on full wet tyres. But roughly an hour into the session the rain eased up and a number of drivers managed a lap on the intermediate tyres, including Sainz in the Toro Rosso who went 0.504s quicker than his nearest rival Daniil Kvayt.

The rain increased in intensity in the final 15 minutes of the session, which forced most drivers to return to the safety of the full wet tyres which resulted in slower lap times as a result.

During FP1, several cars went off track during the 90 minute session, but none found the barriers. Valtteri Bottas went wide at 130R, the two Saubers ran off the track at Spoon and Felipe Massa took a trip through the gravel at the second Degner. The Williams drivers appeared to me that they was working on their car’s wet set-up, which has been a weakness for them and the team this year; but complaints from both drivers and times over two seconds off the pace suggest little in the way of progress was made.

But it was Carlos Sainz Jr who topped the timesheets with a lap time of 1.49.434 ahead of Daniil Kvyat in second place who was 0.504 seconds behind him but was ahead of Nico Rosberg who finished in third place who was 0.643 seconds behind the Toro Rosso of Sainz Jr.

Sebastian Vettel finished the session in fourth place ahead of Lewis Hamilton in fifth place, Max Verstappen in sixth place and Kimi Raikkonen in seventh place. Felipe Massa ended the session in eighth place ahead of Marcus Ericsson in ninth place and Valtteri Bottas who rounds off the top ten finishers.

Felipe Nasr ended the session in eleventh place ahead of Jenson Button in twelfth place. As a result of the rain, Daniel Ricciardo, Nico Hulkenberg, Sergio Perez, Fernando Alonso, Pastor Maldonado, Jolyon Palmer, Will Stevens and Alexander Rossi did not set a time during the session.

The classification of FP1 for the Japanese GP is as follows:-

1. Carlos Sainz Jr, Toro Rosso, 1.49.434
2. Daniil Kvyat, Red Bull Renault, 0.504s
3. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 0.643s
4. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 1.085s
5. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1.085s
6. Max Verstappen, Toro Rosso, 1.506s
7. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1.788s
8. Felipe Massa, Williams-Mercedes, 2.854s
9. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber-Ferrari, 4.386s
10. Valtteri Bottas, Williams-Mercedes, 4.530s
11. Felipe Nasr, Sauber-Ferrari, 4.579s
12. Jenson Button, McLaren-Honda, 6.244s
13. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull-Renault, No Time
14. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India-Mercedes, No Time
15. Sergio Perez, Force India-Mercedes, No Time
16. Fernando Alonso, McLaren-Honda, No Time
17. Pastor Maldonado, Lotus-Mercedes, No Time
18. Jolyon Palmer, Lotus-Mercedes, No Time
19. Will Stevens, Manor, No Time
20. Alexander Rossi, Manor, No Time

Sarah Jones- @jonesy_laaa