P1racenews AI automatic summary:
F1 Japanese GP: Verstappen leads Red Bull 1-2 in FP1, Sargeant crashes
Following the red flag-enforced break caused by Logan Sargeant’s crash, the Red Bull driver set a blazing lap time of 1m30.056s to set the pace for the weekend. Teams focused on longer runs during FP1 in case of bad weather at Suzuka later in the weekend, limiting fast times on soft tires early in the session. Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz traded top spots before Fernando Alonso matched Norris’s time. Max Verstappen then impressed with a 1m31.463s lap on hard tires. Lewis Hamilton later surged to the top with a soft tire run, outpacing his rivals by almost a second. The session was briefly halted after Sargeant crashed his Williams, requiring assessment for damage.
