Max Verstappen put Red Bull firmly back on top with a convincing P1 in first practice at the Japanese Grand Prix.
After seeing their record-breaking winning streaks end in Singapore, the reigning world champion finished six-tenths clear of the field in the opening session at Suzuka.
Indeed, Verstappen would set the pace from his first lap out of the pits, leading teammate Sergio Perez by 1.2s after an initial five-lap stint on hard tyres.
The Dutchman went even faster on a prototype C2 compound for 2024, before initiating the soft tyre runs just after the halfway point, posting the fastest time of FP1 on a 1m31.647s.
Singapore winner Carlos Sainz slotted into second before a late lap promoted Lando Norris upto third for McLaren just as the chequered flag was shown.
Charles Leclerc sat fourth in the second Ferrari, just ahead of home favourite Yuki Tsunoda in fifth for AlphaTauri.
Fernando Alonso was sixth with Oscar Piastri seventh as he tackled the high-speed swoops of Suzuka for the first time.
Alex Albon claimed P8 as Liam Lawson and Lance Stroll completed the top 10.
Perez finished 1.4s behind Verstappen on the same tyres in 11th, followed by Pierre Gasly in 12th.
George Russell was the lead Mercedes in 13th as he and teammate Lewis Hamilton, who was 16th, set their best lap on the medium tyres.
Nico Hulkenberg took 14th ahead of Esteban Ocon in the second Alpine in P15. Valtteri Bottas was 17th, Kevin Magnussen 18th, Logan Sargeant 19th and Zhou Guanyu completed the timesheet.
Traditionally, Suzuka’s narrow track and little margin for error result in a few early dramas, but FP1 was mostly incident-free but for a few slides at the Degner curves and lock-ups at the final chicane.
Traffic was an issue, however, with Tsunoda involved in a late skirmish with Sargeant on the approach to 130R.
A few light drops of rain also kept teams on their toes, but hot temperatures on and off the track ensured a dry session throughout.
