The 17th round of the 2019 FIA Formula One World Championship began with practice Friday at the Suzuka Circuit as teams prepared for Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix.
Two 90-minute sessions – FP1 and FP2 – on the 5.807-kilometer (3.608-mile), 18-turn circuit ran under cloudy conditions – the weather dominating conversation as the potential impact of Typhoon Hagibis prompted race organizers to cancel all Saturday track proceedings with qualifying postponed to 10:00 local time on Sunday, Oct. 13.
Both Haas F1 Drivers ran the Pirelli P Zero Red soft tires exclusively in FP1. Grosjean’s best lap of 1:31.283 came on his second set of the soft compound placing him 11th overall on the timesheet. Magnussen similarly cycled through two sets of the soft rubber, setting the 15th fastest lap of the session with a 1:31.785 tour.
Grosjean and Magnussen enjoyed extra sets of tires at their disposal in FP2 given the cancellation of Saturday’s third and final practice session. There was added pressure on the session however knowing FP2’s final classification will be used to set the grid order in the event that Sunday morning’s qualifying session has to be cancelled.
Utilizing three new sets of softs each, Grosjean banked a 1:29.553 lap to secure 13th overall, with Magnussen clocking a 1:29.749 lap to place 16th on the timesheet. Both drivers ended the session with a high-fuel distance run starting off on used softs before switching onto new sets of the Yellow medium tires to run to the checkered.
Between the two sessions, Haas F1 Team ran a total of 106 laps – 53 each by Magnussen and Grosjean.
Haas F1 Team PR
