Max Verstappen once found Japan's Suzuka circuit "intimidating" but now sees it as an ideal opportunity to bounce back from his recent setback in Australia.
Despite his early exit in Melbourne due to a fire in his right-rear brakes, Verstappen remains confident, noting that his car typically performs well on high-speed tracks like Suzuka.
The three-time defending F1 champion is expected to shine on Sunday.
He was the quickest in Friday's first practice session. The second session was dampened by light rain, with most teams deciding not to run in the damp to save tire wear. Verstappen was among those sitting out.
Verstappen clocked 1 minute, 30.056 seconds in the first practice, 0.181 ahead of teammate Sergio Perez and 0.213 up on Ferrari's Carlos Sainz, the winner of the Australian GP.
Verstappen won his second Formula 1 season title at Suzuka in 2022, and he dominated in Japan last season as he won his third straight title.
That race was only six months ago. The Japanese race has been moved to the beginning of the F1 calendar in 2024, dovetailing perfectly with a big weekend in the cherry blossom season across the Japanese archipelago.
Rain is in the forecast for Sunday, a weather condition that often greeted the race when it was run in the fall or autumn.
Verstappen won this season's first two races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, which has been partly overshadowed by the alleged conduct of team principal Christian Horner toward a team employee.
He was asked in Japan about his future with Red Bull, amid rumors of a move to Mercedes.
"I'm very happy where I'm at," he said. "And, yeah, we want to keep it that way.”
"I have a contract with Red Bull until ’28,” he added. "After that, I first want to see if I actually even want to continue.”
Ferrari's Sainz said closing the gap on Red Bull could be difficult.
"Last year (September), we were, I think, 0.7-0.8 seconds off Red Bull here,” he said. "So it’s time to see where we are this year and see if we can be at least closer.”
Sainz will be replaced next season at Ferrari by Lewis Hamilton, so he's job hunting. And he missed the second race of the season with an appendicitis operation.
"I stayed in Australia for a week and started going back to the gym,” Sainz said. "Still obviously not lifting heavy numbers like I used to do in the past, but at least I can get my training done and I’m feeling back to 100%.”
Seven-time champion Hamilton, moving to Ferrari next season, went out in Australia with engine failure, and Mercedes teammate George Russell exited in a dangerous crash. Suzuka may not suit Mercedes this time.
"I think there’s a clear trend, where we know our strengths in the car, our weaknesses,” Russell said. "Definitely performing stronger in the low-speed corners, struggling a bit in the high-speed corners, of which there’s more of it in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), more in Melbourne, more in Suzuka.”
F1's lone American driver Logan Sargeant crashed in Friday's first practice session. His Williams team does not have a spare chassis, which means Williams may run Sunday with a single car driven by Alex Albon.
"It's pretty significant (damage),” Williams team principal James Vowles said. "The chassis is OK, fortunately, but I would say pretty much everything else isn't; suspension all around, gearbox cracked. Big damage."
Williams said they hoped to have the car ready for Saturday's free practice.
Sargeant was pulled out of the Australia GP two weeks ago. Teammate Albon crashed in that practice and, without a spare chassis, Albon was given Sargeant’s car to drive in the Melbourne race.
Vowles said Sargeant seemed ready on Friday to assert himself.
"Obviously he was in a very good state of mind this week and last night again when I called him,” Vowles said. "Really, really strong state of mind. He just wanted to get back into the car and get going but not with the intention of proving to the world he deserves a seat.”
