Juan Pablo 8th in rain affected Japanese practice


Juan Pablo

By Andrew Hooper
October 8 2004

The opening practice seesion for the Japanese GP was affected by heavy rain which would see the circuit awash with water. Juan Pablo and Ralf would finish the session in eighth and twelfth positions respectively. But the session was dominated by Bridgestone suppled drivers.

   
Japanese GP Friday 1st Practice
 
The opening practice session for the Japanese Grand Prix would see Juan Pablo and Ralf finish the session in eighth and twelfth. But the big talking point of the session was the heavy rain that had hit the circuit. Most drivers would stay in their garages for the majority of the session and it was not until the late in the session that drivers would come out to set their times. At the end of the session only seventeen drivers had set times.

MontoyaThe result of the session certainly showed that the Bridgestone supplied teams were able to cope with the wet conditions better than their Michelin rivals, with the top three times all belonging to Bridgestone supplied drivers.

Michael Schumacher would set the fastest time of 1m:47.906 with ten minutes of the session remaining, finishing 0.456 seconds ahead of second-placed Sauber driver Giancarlo Fisichella. Third was taken by Rubens Barrichello with the first Michelin runner been BAR's Jenson Button in fourth. Button was still two seconds slower than Michael's time on a track where the BAR team is hoping to do well for their engine supplier Honda. Jordan's Nick Heidfeld was in fifth place, but again this could be put down to his Bridgestone tyres.

Behind Heidfeld came Kimi Raikkonen, Jordan's Timo Glock and Juan Pablo. Jordan test driver Robert Doornbos would finish ninth fastest, over five seconds slower than the fastest time. This would see six of the top ten been Bridgestone supplied drivers. The top ten was completed by Renault's Fernando Alonso. McLaren's David Coulthard was to have problems with his car that would see his mechanics working on it. He would not set a time during the session.

Eleventh place was taken by Minardi's Bas Leinders, ahead of Ralf Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve. Making his first appearance for Toyota was Jarno Trulli. He would be one of the drivers to set an early time in the session but would finish in fourteenth fastest. Next was BAR's Anthony Davidson, and the Minardi's of Gianmaria Bruni and Zsolt Baumgartner.

The only moments in the session was when Baumgartner was to spin his Minardi, but was able to continue. For Sauber's Felipe Massa he would spin his car and crash into the barriers at the Degner Curve.

With heavy rain expected over the weekend of the Japanese Grand Prix it is going to be very much a lottery as to who does well in the conditions. But initial indications would see to point to it been a Bridgestone runner who will be successful.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps

1. M. Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1:47.906 5
2. Fisichella Sauber-Petronas (B) 1:48.362 + 0.456 8
3. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 1:49.846 + 1.940 4
4. Button BAR-Honda (M) 1:49.937 + 2.031 5
5. Heidfeld Jordan-Ford (B) 1:51.438 + 3.532 7
6. Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:51.530 + 3.624 5
7. Glock Jordan-Ford (B) 1:52.602 + 4.696 8
8. Montoya WilliamsF1-BMW (M) 1:53.517 + 5.611 4
9. Doornbos Jordan-Ford (B) 1:53.603 + 5.697 10
10. Alonso Renault (M) 1:54.012 + 6.106 4
11. Leinders Minardi-Cosworth (B) 1:55.455 + 7.549 10
12. R. Schumacher WilliamsF1-BMW (M) 1:55.632 + 7.726 5
13. Villeneuve Renault (M) 1:57.547 + 9.641 5
14. Trulli Toyota (M) 1:58.351 + 10.445 10
15. Davidson BAR-Honda (M) 2:00.712 + 12.806 4
16. Bruni Minardi-Cosworth (B) 2:02.825 + 14.919 5
17. Baumgartner Minardi-Cosworth (B) 2:03.955 + 16.049 7
18. Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes (M) No Time 3
19. Sato BAR-Honda (M) No Time 1
20. Massa Sauber-Petronas (B) No Time 3
21. Webber Jaguar-Cosworth (M) No Time 2
22. Klien Jaguar-Cosworth (M) No Time 3
23. Panis Toyota (M) No Time 1
24. Wirdheim Jaguar-Cosworth (M) No Time
25. Briscoe Toyota (M) No Time
 
 
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