First part of free practice
Cloudy. Rain. Air +15C, track +19C
Formula 1 returned to Japan for the first time since 2019 – the previous two seasons the stage was not held due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The first training session met the riders with rain and a wet track. The forecast did not promise improvement in the weather in the next few minutes, so no one was in a hurry to leave the boxes. Five minutes after the start of the session, Kevin Magnussen and Yuki Tsunoda drove onto the track on rain tires, but did not show time and immediately returned to the pits.
15 minutes after the start of the training session, riders one by one began to go to the track to assess the condition of the asphalt. Someone was limited to the installation circle, someone drove short series on rain tires.
Max Verstappen was the first to leave on intermediate tires – this happened half an hour after the start of the session. At the same moment, yellow flags appeared on the track – Nicholas Latifi drove into the gravel in the hairpin of the eighth turn, but returned safely.
The rain stopped, the track began to dry out – and the riders, following the leader of the championship, began to switch to intermediate tires. The speeds gradually increased, the riders worked on long series. Charles Leclerc and Daniel Riccardo left the track without consequences for the car.
Fifteen minutes before the end of the session, the rain intensified and everyone returned to the pits. In the last minutes, Zhou, Bottas, Gasly, Tsunoda, Vettel, Stroll, Magnussen, Schumacher, Sainz and Leclerc entered the track on rain tires, but no one improved their result. After completing a workout on the way to the pits, Mick Schumacher lost control on a wet track in the seventh turn and crashed the car.
The best time was shown by Fernando Alonso – 1:42.248 seconds.
Results of the first session
| Pilot | Team | Time | Difference | Circles |
| 1. F. Alonso | Alpine | 1:42.248 | – | 7 |
| 2. K. Sainz | Ferrari | 1:42.563 | 0.315 | 15 |
| 3. Sh. Leclair | Ferrari | 1:42.634 | 0.386 | 16 |
| 4. E. Okon | Alpine | 1:43.022 | 0.774 | 5 |
| 5. K. Magnussen | Haas | 1:43.258 | 1.010 | 15 |
| 6. M. Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:43.362 | 1.114 | 4 |
| 7. M. Schumacher | Haas | 1:43.761 | 1.513 | 13 |
| 8. L. Norris | McLaren | 1:43.889 | 1.641 | 7 |
| 9. V. Bottas | Alfa Romeo | 1:43.969 | 1.721 | 13 |
| 10. C.Perez | Red Bull | 1:44.234 | 1.986 | 4 |
| 11. G. Zhou | Alfa Romeo | 1:44.429 | 2.181 | 15 |
| 12. D. Riccardo | McLaren | 1:44.486 | 2.238 | 8 |
| 13. L. Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:44.558 | 2.310 | 6 |
| 14. L. Stroll | Aston Martin | 1:44.570 | 2.322 | 10 |
| 15. A. Albon | Williams | 1:44.791 | 2.543 | 9 |
| 16. P. Gasli | AlphaTauri | 1:44.878 | 2.630 | 12 |
| 17. N. Latifi | Williams | 1:45.424 | 3.176 | 11 |
| 18. D. Russell | Mercedes | 1:46.103 | 3.855 | 4 |
| 19. Y. Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | 1:46.192 | 3.944 | 16 |
| 20. S. Vettel | Aston Martin | 1:48.090 | 5.842 | 8 |