Button tops opening practice in Japan

Jenson Button

Jenson Button led a McLaren one-two in opening practice for the Japanese Grand Prix, while soon to be world champion for a 2nd time Sebastian Vettel crashed.

Vettel was third fastest in the session and was trying to go faster when he ran wide at Degner One and hit the barriers, but the car did not sustain too much damage.

Button was quickest for much of the session and set his best time on his final lap with a 1m33.634s.

He beat his teammate Lewis Hamilton by 0.091s in front of Vettel, with Fernando Alonso fourth and Mark Webber fifth quickest.

Results

Pos Driver Team Time Behind Laps
1. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m33.634s +0.000s 20
2. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m33.725s +0.091 18
3. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m34.090s +0.456 22
4. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m34.372s +0.738 24
5. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m34.426s +0.792 25
6. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m34.937s +1.303 23
7. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m35.585s +1.951 27
8. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m35.590s +1.956 25
9. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m36.033s +2.399 22
10. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m36.370s +2.736 18
11. Bruno Senna Renault 1m36.487s +2.853 18
12. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1m36.700s +3.066 21
13. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m36.948s +3.314 24
14. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m36.949s +3.315 22
15. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m37.103s +3.469 29
16. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m38.197s +4.563 18
17. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m38.331s +4.697 11
18. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m38.446s +4.812 8
19. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1m39.168s +5.534 10
20. Karun Chandhok Lotus-Renault 1m39.946s +6.312 22
21. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m40.872s +7.238 13
22. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m41.019s +7.385 24
23. Daniel Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth 1m41.106s +7.472 25
24. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1m41.775s +8.141 25