Reports of a few drops of rain falling on the track as Lewis Hamilton goes even quicker with a 1:31.072, putting him four tenths clear of Valtteri Bottas.

Valtteri Bottas goes fractionally slower than Lewis Hamilton to slot in second quickest. The Red Bulls, meanwhile, are on the supersoft tyre and Daniel Ricciardo's first timed effort is a 1:31.723, putting him P3.

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer

It’s not raining. Yet. Which gives Mercedes a chance to have a further look at the aerodynamic updates that were introduced in Malaysia but which Lewis Hamilton ended up not running in qualifying and race, while Valtteri Bottas did.

Hamilton said on Thursday that he and the team had not decided whether to run them again here, saying: "It's not decided at the moment, it's a constant discussion. The guys want to go one direction and I'm hesitant and more feeling for another way.”

Well, the team have won the day and both cars have the new spec fitted. Mercedes say the data suggests the parts were working properly in Sepang and the problems they had in lacking pace on Friday were elsewhere. They would not expand on that publicly but getting the tyres in the right operating window was a major contributor.

We've had everyone out for at least a lap now as Lewis Hamilton sets the early pace with a 1:31.544 on softs.

Carlos Sainz is the first man out of the pits and the Spanish driver has medium tyres on his Toro Rosso.

Both Ferraris are also out early doors while Mercedes are winding up to sending Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas out.

First practice is under way at Suzuka.

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Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer

Sebastian Vettel needs above all else a clean weekend in Japan to get his championship challenge back on track after two weekends of missed opportunity.

It appears he has escaped from his misjudgement in colliding with Lance Stroll on the slowing down lap in Malaysia but the start-line crash in Singapore and engine problem in Sepang qualifying have hit him hard.

“We are behind so it depends on what Mercedes are doing,” he said. “We just have to do our best and we need to score much more than them. How we achieve it doesn’t matter as long as we do achieve it. It is much more straightforward if we have our optimum and ideally win a lot of races and then we have a better chance.”

The German said there was “no panic or big plans” for internal changes at Ferrari, despite president Sergio Marchionne saying he was “angry” and there would be some re-organisation. “I heard that as well,” Vettel said. “Not from him, more from the press. I am not sure it was put in the right context. Whatever happens on track, happens on track. Singapore you can’t take much action. We had a problem in Malaysia stopping me and Kimi. It is normal you try to understand things and have a shift in people but knowing what is going on internally there is no panic or big plans. As far as I know nothing big happened.”

As for the Stroll incident, Vettel is still blaming the Canadian, even though new footage from the Williams’ on-board camera, which seems to show Stroll not changing his steering angle until he sees Vettel, suggests the Ferrari driver was primarily, if not totally, to blame.

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It was an up and down weekend for Sebastian Vettel in Malaysia last-time out.

An engine problem ruled him out of qualifying but he then drove superbly from the back of the grid to finish fourth but then bizarrely crashed into Lance Stroll after the chequered flag had fallen.

What will this weekend have in store for him?

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It's cloudy at Suzuka at the moment but rain is expected at some point during the day.

First practice gets under way in seven minutes.

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer

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On paper, Suzuka is a Mercedes track - it is one of the more engine-dependent circuits, and the corners reward aerodynamic efficiency. Both are strong points of the Mercedes. But you could say the same about Malaysia, and look what happened there.

“I don’t know if any of you guys can predict,” Lewis Hamilton said on Thursday, “but I definitely can’t predict what races are going to work and what we are not. We thought we’d be stronger in the last race and we were way off but we still got pole and finished second.”

This weekend, with rain predicted on Friday and much cooler temperatures than Malaysia, it could play into Hamilton’s hands again. “Being cooler and the type of corners here, you would think our car would be good here but we might be shocked and they might be even stronger. Generally when it’s hot that has been one of the biggest challenges for us.”

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Hello! Welcome along to our coverage of first practice of the Japanese Grand Prix.

A tip of the hat to those of you following this session in middle of the night but with just five races to go, I can fully understand you not wanting to miss a second of the action.

Lewis Hamilton is closing in on a fourth world title after a second-place finishing in Malaysia last-time out extended his advantage over Sebastian Vettel to 34 points.

But something tells me there are more twists than an M. Night Shyamalan film to come before the season's out...

Car hats...

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... colourful fans...

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... and a Williams stormtrooper.

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It's the Japanese Grand Prix.

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