Japanese GP: Sainz Jr. tops wet opening practice

Carlos Sainz Jr.
Carlos Sainz Jr.

Toro Rosso's Carlos Sainz Jr. turned the fastest lap on a very wet Suzuka Circuit to top opening practice for the Japanese GP. His lap of 1m49.434s on intermediate tires beat the 2nd fastest driver, Daniil Kvyat in the Red Bull, by 1/2 second. The first two drivers set their times on intermediate tires on a slightly drying track. The top drivers (Hamilton, Rosberg, Vettel and Raikkonen) all set their times on full wets.

Nico Rosberg was 3rd in the Mercedes ahead of the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel and the 2nd Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton.

Only 12 drivers did a time lap, the rest figuring it to be a waste of time as the teams did not want to chance a damaged car. Ricciardo, Hulkenberg, Perez, Alonso, Maldonado, Palmer, Stevens and Rossi all failed to set a time.

Results

Pos Driver Car Time Behind Laps
1 Carlos Sainz Jr. Toro Rosso/Renault 1m49.434s 0.000s 10
2 Daniil Kvyat Red Bull/Renault 1m49.938s 0.504s 7
3 Nico Rosberg Mercedes/Mercedes 1m50.077s 0.643s 14
4 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari/Ferrari 1m50.519s 1.085s 12
5 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes/Mercedes 1m50.722s 1.288s 6
6 Max Verstappen Toro Rosso/Renault 1m50.940s 1.506s 10
7 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari/Ferrari 1m51.212s 1.778s 15
8 Felipe Massa Williams/Mercedes 1m52.288s 2.854s 12
9 Marcus Ericsson Sauber/Ferrari 1m53.820s 4.386s 12
10 Valtteri Bottas Williams/Mercedes 1m53.964s 4.530s 14
11 Felipe Nasr Sauber/Ferrari 1m54.013s 4.579s 9
12 Jenson Button McLaren/Honda 1m55.678s 6.244s 6
13 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull/Renault 1
14 Nico Hulkenberg Force India/Mercedes 4
15 Sergio Perez Force India/Mercedes 3
16 Fernando Alonso McLaren/Honda 5
17 Pastor Maldonado Lotus/Mercedes 1
18 Jolyon Palmer Lotus/Mercedes 1
19 Will Stevens Marussia/Ferrari 3
20 Alexander Rossi Marussia/Ferrari 4