Free 1: Kovalainen ahead of Nakajima

The first free practice session at Suzuka presents a disrupted hierarchy, with drivers usually at the back of the grid finding themselves at the front. Kazuki Nakajima stood out, holding the best time of the session until the last minute, before Heikki Kovalainen took him away on his last lap.

It was the Finn who was the first to set a reference time, in 1:52:546 after 18 minutes of session. On the wet Suzuka track, in the ambient humidity, the drivers cannot achieve extraordinary times. Lewis Hamilton However, he imitated his teammate and dropped the clock by six seconds in two times (1:46:974). While Romain Grosjean takes its marks on the Japanese route, Fernando Alonso avoids the accident, brushing against a wall of tires after an exit that is too wide. In the next lap, the Spaniard took the best time (1:46:152).

Sebastian Vettel takes his turn at the head, while the young Kamui Kobayashi is in seventh position half an hour from the end of the session. The Japanese, replacing Timo Glock, is gradually gaining confidence in his car. His compatriot Kazuki Nakajima stands out in turn and achieves the best time (1:42??642). The pilot Williams, still scoreless in 2009, wants to shine on a circuit he knows like the back of his hand and is starting in the best possible way.

Heikko Kovalainen then Adrian Sutil steals first place from him but the Japanese takes the best time less than five minutes from the end of the countdown (1:40??729). The Japanese driver even improves to drive the point home (1:40:648) but that's without counting on the McLaren, with Heikki Kovalainen setting the best time at the wire (1:40??356). Behind the Finn, Kazuki Nakajima stands out advantageously, as does Adrian Sutil (3rd), Giancarlo Fisichella (4th) and Sébastien Buemi (5e).