Japanese GP: Positive start from Williams in FP1

The first Friday practice  session for the 2010 Japanese Grand Prix would be run under dry but cloudy conditions. Bridgestone has its soft and hard compounds on hand as the Japanese manufacturer makes its final appearance on home soil ahead if its withdrawal from the sport at the end of the season.

Both Nico Hulkenberg and Rubens Barrichello would complete their installation laps returning to their pits. IT would not be until nearly half and hour of the session had been completed before Nico would return to the track. Nico's first timed lap was a 1m:35.789, going fastest. Nico would drop to second but he would return to the top of the times with 1m:34.035, while Rubens on his first run would move into sixth.

After nearly forty minutes of the session Nico would pit. Rubens was now fourth behind Hulkenberg, Schumacher and Kobayashi, with a lap of 1m:34.284. It would not be much later after this that Hamilton would crash heavily at Degner after he ran slightly wide at the first part of the fast, downhill double right-hander, then across the gravel and into the tyre barrier. The crash would see his left front suspension heavily damaged, ending his session.

With fifty minutes of the session complete it would be Vettel fastest with a time of 1m:33.157, with Hamilton second, Kubica third and Webber fourth. Rubens was now in fifth followed by Nico in sixth. Schumacher was seventh and Massa eighth.

With seventy two minutes of the session complete Rubens and Nico were out on the track looking to improve from their eighth and eleventh positions. On his first lap Rubens would set a 1m:33.677 to move up to sixth. Nico would also improve moving up to seventh, with a lap of 1m:33.707. With fifteen minutes remaining Vettel was now leading leads team-mate Webber, with Kubica third and Sutil fourth. Hamilton was still fifth quickest despite his earlier exit from the session at Degner. Both Rubens and Nico would pit but would return for one final run as the session drew to a close.

So after the first practice the AT&T Williams team has made a positive start to the weekend with sixth and seventh places for Rubens Barrichello and Nico Hulkenberg. The drivers were allowed the opportunity of practice starts. With both Williams drivers in the top ten now it would be interesting to see if they can continue this good form into the next practice session.

Pos  Driver`	    Team		   Time       Laps
 1.  Vettel    	    Red Bull-Renault       1m32.585s  23
 2.  Webber         Red Bull-Renault       1m32.633s  23
 3.  Kubica         Renault                1m33.129s  23
 4.  Sutil          Force India-Mercedes   1m33.639s  13
 5.  Hamilton       McLaren-Mercedes       1m33.643s  9
 6.  Barrichello    AT&T Williams-Cosworth 1m33.677s  21
 7.  Hulkenberg     AT&T Williams-Cosworth 1m33.707s  24
 8.  Schumacher     Mercedes               1m33.739s  20
 9.  Heidfeld       Sauber-Ferrari         1m33.791s  23
10.  Rosberg        Mercedes               1m33.831s  9
11.  Massa          Ferrari                1m33.929s  25
12.  Button         McLaren-Mercedes       1m34.042s  19
13.  Alonso         Ferrari                1m34.169s  23
14.  Kobayashi      Sauber-Ferrari         1m34.271s  19
15.  Petrov         Renault                1m34.373s  24
16.  Liuzzi   	    Force India-Mercedes   1m34.379s  21
17.  Buemi     	    Toro Rosso-Ferrari     1m34.991s  26
18.  Alguersuari    Toro Rosso-Ferrari     1m35.684s  22
19.  Kovalainen     Lotus-Cosworth         1m36.949s  25
20.  Glock          Virgin-Cosworth        1m37.329s  17
21.  Trulli         Lotus-Cosworth         1m37.388s  23
22.  D'Ambrosio     Virgin-Cosworth        1m37.778s  23
23.  Senna          Hispania-Cosworth      1m38.814s  28
24.  Yamamoto       Hispania-Cosworth      1m39.443s  26