The McLaren duo led by Jenson Button got the best start to the Japanese GP weekend by going quickest through FP1.
Button set a 1:33.634, just 0.091 quicker than Lewis Hamilton in P2.
Sebastian Vettel ended the session in the barriers after setting a best time almost half a second slower than the quickest McLaren.
Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber rounded-off the top five cars.
Pastor Maldonado suffered a slight scare through the Esses as he ran wide be re-emerged on the track after a bumpy ride across the grass.
Japanese GP Free Practice 1 Results:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01. | J. Button | McLaren | 1:33.634 | 20 | |
| 02. | L. Hamilton | McLaren | 1:33.725 | +0.091 | 18 |
| 03. | S. Vettel | Red Bull | 1:34.090 | +0.456 | 22 |
| 04. | F. Alonso | Ferrari | 1:34.372 | +0.738 | 24 |
| 05. | M. Webber | Red Bull | 1:34.426 | +0.792 | 25 |
| 06. | J. Alguersuari | Toro Rosso | 1:34.937 | +1.303 | 23 |
| 07. | F. Massa | Ferrari | 1:35.585 | +1.951 | 27 |
| 08. | S. Buemi | Toro Rosso | 1:35.590 | +1.956 | 25 |
| 09. | M. Schumacher | Mercedes | 1:36.033 | +2.399 | 22 |
| 10. | V. Petrov | Renault | 1:36.370 | +2.736 | 18 |
| 11. | B. Senna | Renault | 1:36.487 | +2.853 | 18 |
| 12. | N. Hulkenberg | Force India | 1:36.700 | +3.066 | 21 |
| 13. | K. Kobayashi | Sauber | 1:36.948 | +3.314 | 24 |
| 14. | P. di Resta | Force India | 1:36.949 | +3.315 | 22 |
| 15. | S. Perez | Sauber | 1:37.103 | +3.469 | 29 |
| 16. | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:38.197 | +4.563 | 18 |
| 17. | R. Barrichello | Williams | 1:38.331 | +4.697 | 11 |
| 18. | P. Maldonado | Williams | 1:38.446 | +4.812 | 8 |
| 19. | J. Trulli | Team Lotus | 1:39.168 | +5.534 | 10 |
| 20. | K. Chandhok | Team Lotus | 1:39.946 | +6.312 | 22 |
| 21. | T. Glock | Virgin | 1:40.872 | +7.238 | 13 |
| 22. | J. d’Ambrosio | Virgin | 1:41.019 | +7.385 | 24 |
| 23. | D. Ricciardo | HRT | 1:41.106 | +7.472 | 25 |
| 24. | N. Karthikeyan | HRT | 1:41.775 | +8.141 | 25 |
