Japanese Grand Prix
It was a rain-soaked Friday practice session, with both FP1 and FP2 disrupted Getty

It was a rain-soaked Friday (25 September) at the Suzuka International circuit which saw very limited running from the cars. Both sessions were dominated by a Renault-powered car, with Carlos Sainz topping FP1 and Daniil Kvyat the next session.

Where to watch live

The third free practice session begins at 4am BST on Saturday and the qualifying session at 7am BST. Sky Sports F1 and Sky Sports F1 HD will provide live coverage of both events in the UK. Real-time internet updates are available on the Live Timing section of the sport's official website.

Overview

The first two practice sessions were virtual washouts after continuous rain in the morning and afternoon curtailed the running of cars but no rain is forecast from Saturday onwards. The times set on Friday will be insignificant and the teams would not have been able to complete any setup work.

Mercedes will be hoping for some dry running ahead of qualifying to find out if they have solved the problems from Singapore, while all the teams will be ready to push as much as possible in FP3 to get a better understanding of the cars and tyres. The final practice session will be crucial for all the teams. We could get to see a lot of running on Saturday morning, with the teams having to complete their long run tests as well as single-lap simulations in the final one hour session ahead of qualifying.

The Mercedes, Red Bulls and the Toro Rosso cars look the best in wet conditions, but with a dry weekend predicted, it will be crucial for the cars to get their setup right for the race.

Top 10 results of the second practice session from the Suzuka International circuit, Japan:

1. D Kvyat (RUS) Red Bull – 1:48.277

2. N Rosberg (GER) Mercedes – 1:48.300

3. L Hamilton (GBR) Mercedes – 1:48.853

4. D Ricciardo (AUS) Red Bull – 1:49.097

5. S Vettel (GER), Ferrari – 1:50.268

6. K Raikkonen (FIN) Ferrari – 1:50.319

7. C Sainz (ESP) Toro Rosso – 1:50.418

8. M Verstappen (NED) Toro Rosso – 1:50.542

9. F Nasr (BRA) Sauber – 1:50.968

10. P Maldonado (COL) Lotus – 1:51.557