F1 Japanese GP live commentary and updates - FP1
All of the updates from the Japanese GP's first free practice session
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See you soon for FP2
And with that, we are going to move on to an early breakfast and some strong Japanese green tea.
See you back here in just two hours for second free practice from Suzuka, which starts at 6:00am GMT. That's 7:00am BST, or 08:00am CET. Until then!
Report: Norris tops FP1 from Russell
Here's your morning report courtesy of Jake Boxall-Legge, one of our twin surnamed reporters on the ground in Suzuka.
Lando Norris, McLaren
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
It's an encouraging session for Fernando Alonso and Aston Martin, seventh ahead of rookies Hadjar and Antonelli and both the Williams cars.
Combined, Hadjar and Antonelli are still five years younger than the 43-year-old two-time world champion, which is quite the stat.
Let's not go mad over a practice session, but you have to hand it to Tsunoda. Huge pressure on home soil, no time in the car, and he has delivered a fast and clean session.
"Quite messy," he says on the team radio. "I can give you feedback, but I found the car interesting on track. But it's okay, good sesh."
That "interesting" sounds like a euphemism for the RB21's tricky handling.
Norris tops FP1
It's Lando Norris out in front in first free practice, ahead of George Russell, Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton.
Yuki Tsunoda ends his session in sixth one tenth behind Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen.
Antonelli mimics Albon by going off the track at the hairpin, he too has locked up the left-front on his long run.
Verstappen hustling the Red Bull through the Esses at Suzuka, surely one of the world's greatest corner combinations.
Photo by: Mark Mann-Bryans
As per usual, we're seeing more longer runs now during this second half of the session, so no major improvements to note. It's still Norris out in front, who is reporting graining on his medium-tyre stint.
Meanwhile team-mate Piastri is down in 15th after not getting his flyer in. It's Sauber and then Haas propping up the timesheets.
Former Red Bull mechanic Calum Nicholas is a guest on the F1 TV broadcast and makes a good point. Tsunoda may have been given a few extra horsepower by Red Bull to get used to how the car will behave in qualifying, using a representative engine map.
Meanwhile, we know Verstappen never uses higher engine maps for one-lap runs on Friday. It's a plausible theory that may explain why Yuki is so close.
What does a good weekend look like for Tsunoda?
A good start then for Tsunoda, who has targeted Q3 this weekend while dreaming a a home race podium.
I'm curious to know what you think. What would constitute a good Red Bull debut weekend for Tsunoda? Is a top 10 good enough? And how close to Verstappen should he be? Let us know in the comments.
It's pretty windy at Suzuka, and although the air temperature is only 13.6C, the track temp has just crept over the 36C mark. That means the drivers are struggling for stability and traction, so we're watching a few drivers make mistakes - even at the sharp end of the timesheets and on the softer compounds.
Norris has since gone top with a 1m28.549s. Russell is still up there in second, while both Ferraris have joined the top five.
MMB has a great shot of Suzuka's classic figure-of-eight. What a circuit.
Albon has also gone off after not being able to get the Williams stopped for the hairpin. He has also flatspotted his left-front tyre in the process.
Norris goes off
Last time out he caught the slide, but this time Norris goes off coming out of the final chicane. That McLaren looks tricky to drive in low-speed corners, which is an age-old weakness.
He may have just taken too much inside kerb as he jumps onto the throttle. No harm done, just a trip through the gravel.
For reference, Verstappen comes through and is just a tenth quicker than Tsunoda, splitting his new team-mate and Russell in second.
The Dutchman has not been overly happy about the RB21 on the radio over the first half of this practice session.
Tsunoda second
Oh hello, that has got the crowd going. A good effort from Yuki Tsunoda as he takes second, three tenths off Russell.
Again, it means nothing at this stage, but we didn't see Lawson that far up the leaderboard over the first two races. A promising enough a sign.
Russell goes quicker
New softs for Russell and that is yielding a 1m28.809s, by far the quickest time thus far. Both McLarens catch traffic - and a few slides - and don't get near Russell's lap.
Instead Russell's team-mate Kimi Antonelli takes second, ahead of Verstappen, Sainz and Piastri.
It will take some going to beat Tsunoda in the supporter stakes this weekend but there’s no doubt that Lewis Hamilton is still the king of Suzuka. Red lined the entrance gate outside while those who have headed to the stands for FP1 are also mostly fans of the Brit.
It's worth pointing out there's a second Japanese driver on track in this session. Ryo Hirakawa has taken over Jack Doohan's Alpine for FP1, with the Japanese driver one of the team's array of reserve drivers this year.
Hirakawa is dovetailing those duties with his Toyota WEC programme, having won the Le Mans 24 Hours for the manufacturer in 2022. He won the WEC title twice too, quite the pedigree.
It's another bright start for Tsunoda's former RB colleague Isack Hadjar, who is third so far behind Russell and Verstappen. Lawson is back in 12th as we approach the halfway point.
I've been watching a few onboards from Yuki Tsunoda and it's all action so far, wrestling the bucking Red Bull as it snaps on him out of the final chicane.
He better get used to that, quickly. Tsunoda is seventh at the moment, six tenths behind Verstappen. Means nothing, but not the worst start as he gets up to speed.
You really don't want to be fully committed to the Esses or Degner and hit a massive gust of wind, do you! If you get caught out at Suzuka, you'll likely end up in the gravel or worse.
This is not the most generous circuit regarding runoffs, which is something a lot of drivers and fans like.
The official FIA weather guide suggests rain overnight on Saturday. It’s sunny this morning but the wind is incredible at the moment. We’ve already seen this season how the cars react to gusts and it could definitely have an impact at least for Friday running.
Russell goes top in the Mercedes, his 1m289.616s on medium rubber is just 0.074s quicker than Verstappen.
Mark Mann-Bryans, sensibly referred to as MMB internally, is having a little look trackside and spots Tsunoda heading out for the first time.
Suzuka may be the best circuit in the world for such activities, so we're just a little bit jealous of MMB.
Verstappen leads the early running in the white Red Bull with a 1m29.690s, then, on soft tyres. Most runners are going for mediums or hards while the track is at its slowest.
It's a good test to get used to Red Bull's white one-off livery, commemorating Honda's first F1 grand prix win 60 years ago.
It really is a great livery, but Racing Bulls is also running sits predominantly white colour scheme, so that is a little confusing. The trick is the nose, Red Bull's is white while its sister team retains the typical yellow bull that stands out on the frontal shot.
Red Bull Racing RB21, Japanese GP livery
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
That's the Honda RA272 in the background, the car that took Honda's memorable first win in the hands of Richie Ginther, at the 1965 Mexican Grand Prix.
FP1 is go
The light at the end of the pitlane jumps to green and we are underway at Suzuka. The cars from Red Bull, Racing Bulls and Ferrari are all heading out.
The drivers are getting ready to head out. A little windy this morning, which is often the case at this coastal circuit. But other than that the conditions are fine, with no rain expected today.
The air temperature is a breezy 14 degrees C with the track close to 40 degrees C.
McLaren is the record winner at Suzuka with seven wins since the race was run on the glorious 5.807km circuit, roughly an hour outside Nagoya in the Mie Prefecture. It also won one of the two grands prix held at Fuji in the seventies, and in 2007 with Lewis Hamilton.
Meanwhile, Michael Schumacher's record of six victories still stands, although Ferrari's Hamilton could get on terms with the great German if he wins this weekend. Max Verstappen is on three after winning the previous three editions here in 2022, 2023 and 2024.
Will McLaren hit the ground running?
Elsewhere it will be interesting to see how Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri get on. This is a circuit McLaren should do especially well at, and both drivers now have one win apiece on the board.
Piastri was well on top in China, so can he continue to make a statement in this opening stage of the season?
Max Verstappen has also been asked about it all, and while he didn't want to say exactly how he felt about the swap decision - it's been understood he disagreed with it - the Dutchman reiterated Red Bull's biggest problem is its recalcitrant car, not its second driver.
"I think our main issue is that our car is not where we want it to be. Everyone knows that within the team as well and that's what I focus on, to be honest. Because as soon as the car is more competitive and more drivable in general, then I think even in the second car it will come to you anyway a bit more naturally."
Naturally all eyes will be on Yuki Tsunoda as he gets his Red Bull nod in front of his home fans, and Honda's executives.
It is quite the baptism of fire for the young man, having never driven the Red Bull BR21 before. But with his longer term F1 future unclear, this was his only chance to reach his goal of driving for the main team, so he will take it.
Meanwhile, Liam Lawson is demoted back to Racing Bulls and will be hoping to prove a few people wrong.
Most drivers our guys on the ground spoke to yesterday had sympathy for Lawson's predicament, especially those who have previous experience being part of Red Bull's ruthless programme.
I'm Fil and I will be taking you through the action today, while our reporters Jake Boxall-Legge, Mark Mann-Bryans and Erwin Jaeggi are on the ground bringing us the latest nuggets from the paddock.
It's Suzuka, one of the world's great circuits, so that has made getting up at this unholy hour a little easier to digest.
Welcome
Good morning, or konnichiwa. Welcome to our liveblog as we get ready for first free practice at Formula 1's Japanese Grand Prix.
By: Filip Cleeren
