FP1 & FP2 - Japanese GP report: Renault Sport F1

The opening day of practice at Suzuka took place in dry conditions, the only day of dry running expected this weekend. Typhoon Phanfone is scheduled to hit the circuit tomorrow

Infiniti Red Bull Racing finishes fifth quickest in FP2 with Sebastian Vettel, but Daniel Ricciardo misses the session after making contact with the barriers. The long run pace of the cars is positive

Max Verstappen makes history as the youngest-ever driver to compete in an F1 event. At just 17 years old he made his debut for Scuderia Toro Rosso in FP1

Good day of running for Daniil Kvyat, with top 10 positions in both sessions, however the sister car suffered from technical issues

Reliable running for Lotus F1 Team, with 600km on the board

Marcus Ericsson uses his Suzuka knowledge to finish ahead of the Marussias in both sessions. Roberto Merhi replaces Kamui Kobayashi for FP1; the Japanese driver returns for FP2 but crashes into the barriers on first lap

Rémi Taffin, head of track operations:

Today we were reminded why Suzuka is one of the hardest tracks for drivers and engineers, with several offs across the field. On a positive note, the long run pace on the Red Bull cars was strong. Obviously we were not able to complete the checks with Daniel, but over both sessions we covered 80 laps so we have enough data to optimize the pace and close the gap over one lap.

Reliability has however not been fantastic today, with issues on the Toro Rosso. Max stopped with a Power Unit problem at the end of FP1. Although this should not have happened on track, the ICE was scheduled to be changed at the end of the day, so this just accelerated our plans. When JEV took over we then had two unrelated problems with the fuel pump, which we were able fix, and then with the electronics at the end, which brought out the red flags. We will look at this overnight and ensure a smoother day overall tomorrow.

With the rain coming tomorrow and predicted to stay we will have to start from the beginning again. This does not pose any problems for us though and could be an opportunity as we know the gaps will close up between teams.