Round 17 of the Formula One 2023 World Championship got underway at the Suzuka International Racing Course in Suzuka, Japan on Friday, September 22nd with humid conditions prevailing.

Japan initially joined Formula One's schedule at Fuji Speedway in 1976, a race made famous for the title showdown between James Hunt and Niki Lauda, but after its second year the country was absent for a decade. When Formula 1 eventually returned to Japan, in 1987, it did so at the demanding figure-of-eight Suzuka Circuit. The circuit was constructed in 1962.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen was quickest in both free practice sessions, leading the field by one-third of a second in FP2 and a full two-thirds of a second on soft tires in FP1.

"It felt really good today, from lap one the car was enjoyable to drive again. We've had a strong day on the short and long runs," said the two time World Champion and current 2023 points leader. "There's a lot of degradation on this track so it will be quite tough on tyres during the race, but so far, we've had a good start to the weekend."

McLaren and Ferrari were also consistently quick on Friday.

"We seem to be slightly closer to our competitors than expected, so it was quite a positive day overall," said Ferrari's Charles Leclerc. "On my side, we tried out a few different things on the car to make me a bit more comfortable, which was good. I'm looking forward to confirming that feeling tomorrow."

A late red flag ended FP2 early as Alpine's Pierre Gasly found the gravel at the second Degner of the Suzuka Circuit.

"Unfortunately, our day ended with a small off at Turn 9 right at the end of Free Practice 2," said Gasly. "I just lost the front slightly and I could not correct it in time and that meant we slid through the gravel and into the barrier."

Suzuka is the home track for AlphaTauri's young driver, Yuki Tsunoda, who signed a year extension with AlphaTauri on Friday.

"I'm very much looking forward to this weekend. If I'm honest, I've actually been looking forward to it since the end of last year's race," said Tsunoda. "It's definitely very special, and the way I felt there was completely different to all the other Grands Prix, with so much support from the fans [here]."

McLaren announced a multi-year contract extension with its rookie driver Oscar Piastri to the end of 2026. Piastri has two top fives and six top tens thus far in his rookie year. Piastri qualified P3 at the British Grand Prix.

"It's fantastic to confirm that Oscar has signed a multi-year extension with the team," said McLaren's Andrea Stella. "Oscar is an asset to McLaren and constantly impresses with his performance, work ethic and attitude, so it was an easy decision for the team to make."

Pos	Driver		Team		Time		Gap

1	Verstappen	Red Bull	1:30.688	143.241 mph
2	Leclerc		Ferrari		1:31.008	0.320
3	Norris		McLaren		1:31.152	0.464
4	Sainz		Ferrari		1:31.237	0.549
5	Russell		Mercedes	1:31.328	0.640
6	Alonso		Aston Martin	1:31.492	0.804
7	Albon		Williams	1:31.555	0.867
8	Piastri		McLaren		1:31.662	0.974
9	Perez		Red Bull	1:31.710	1.022
10	Bottas		Alfa Romeo	1:31.739	1.051
11	Stroll		Aston Martin	1:31.771	1.083
12	Ocon		Alpine		1:31.794	1.106
13	Hulkenberg	Haas		1:31.797	1.109
14	Hamilton	Mercedes	1:31.829	1.141
15	Lawson		AlphaTauri	1:32.141	1.453
16	Zhou		Alfa Romeo	1:32.165	1.477
17	Magnussen	Haas		1:32.169	1.481
18	Tsunoda		AlphaTauri	1:32.178	1.490
19	Gasly		Alpine		1:32.179	1.491
20	Sargeant	Williams	1:32.320	1.632

Pos	Driver		Team		Time		Gap

1	Verstappen	Red Bull	1:31.647	141.742 mph
2	Sainz		Ferrari		1:32.273	0.626
3	Norris		McLaren		1:32.392	0.745
4	Leclerc		Ferrari		1:32.574	0.927
5	Tsunoda		AlphaTauri	1:32.597	0.950
6	Alonso		Aston Martin	1:32.650	1.003
7	Piastri		McLaren		1:32.713	1.066
8	Albon		Williams	1:32.991	1.344
9	Lawson		AlphaTauri	1:33.005	1.358
10	Stroll		Aston Martin	1:33.040	1.393
11	Perez		Red Bull	1:33.043	1.396
12	Gasly		Alpine		1:33.129	1.482
13	Russell		Mercedes	1:33.310	1.663
14	Hulkenberg	Haas		1:33.448	1.801
15	Ocon		Alpine		1:33.516	1.869
16	Hamilton	Mercedes	1:33.699	2.052
17	Bottas		Alfa Romeo	1:33.860	2.213
18	Magnussen	Haas		1:33.975	2.328
19	Sargeant	Williams	1:34.212	2.565
20	Zhou		Alfa Romeo	1:34.831	3.184

(image provided by Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake)