It looks as though we could have a race on our hands come Sunday. The Ferraris were quickest in the morning session but then the McLarens came through in the afternoon, Massa slipping down to third and Raikkonen to fifth. All of the drivers seem to like the circuit, in particular the changing gradients and the quicker sections, and the width has been mentioned as providing plenty of room for experiment with lines through the corners.
Lewis Hamilton
It could all change tomorrow, of course. No doubt the BMWs will be higher up the list than they managed today but they might have more of a battle than usual with the Renaults, both of which were looking very good. Trulli showed the expected Toyota home advantage, setting fourth fastest time in the afternoon, while Ralf wasn't far behind in eighth.
Surprise of the day came from the Spyker team, Adrian Sutil actually amongst the fastest ten in the first session. That slipped to 16th in the second but is still evidence of a huge improvement. Hopefully, qualification will go well for them and Sutil at least will be able to mix it with the midfield.
Williams were a little disappointing, Rosberg managing fifth at first but then fading in the second session to 13th, with Wurz ahead of him. Nico will have to take a ten-place grid penalty for an engine change so he really needs to be as fast as possible tomorrow. But at least it means there should be some overtaking as he comes through the field.
The Red Bull cars were just ahead of Williams in second practice but their sister team, Toro Rosso, managed only to beat the Super Aguris and Yamamoto's Spyker. Liuzzi remains quicker than Vettel and Berger must be wondering whether he did the right thing with his driver change this year.
So it seems that Fuji could provide a better race than we expected in our disappointment at being deprived of Suzuka this year. The established order of the teams has not been upset much but times are close throughout the field. It may even be (whisper it) that overtaking is possible on this circuit. Now that would be proper recompense for the processional races so common this year.
Lewis Hamilton
It could all change tomorrow, of course. No doubt the BMWs will be higher up the list than they managed today but they might have more of a battle than usual with the Renaults, both of which were looking very good. Trulli showed the expected Toyota home advantage, setting fourth fastest time in the afternoon, while Ralf wasn't far behind in eighth.
Surprise of the day came from the Spyker team, Adrian Sutil actually amongst the fastest ten in the first session. That slipped to 16th in the second but is still evidence of a huge improvement. Hopefully, qualification will go well for them and Sutil at least will be able to mix it with the midfield.
Williams were a little disappointing, Rosberg managing fifth at first but then fading in the second session to 13th, with Wurz ahead of him. Nico will have to take a ten-place grid penalty for an engine change so he really needs to be as fast as possible tomorrow. But at least it means there should be some overtaking as he comes through the field.
The Red Bull cars were just ahead of Williams in second practice but their sister team, Toro Rosso, managed only to beat the Super Aguris and Yamamoto's Spyker. Liuzzi remains quicker than Vettel and Berger must be wondering whether he did the right thing with his driver change this year.
So it seems that Fuji could provide a better race than we expected in our disappointment at being deprived of Suzuka this year. The established order of the teams has not been upset much but times are close throughout the field. It may even be (whisper it) that overtaking is possible on this circuit. Now that would be proper recompense for the processional races so common this year.