Sebastian Vettel crashed while Jenson Button, the only man standing between the Red Bull driver and a second Formula One title, was quickest in both practice sessions at the Japanese Grand Prix on Friday. Vettel, who needs only a point on Sunday to be the sport’s youngest double champion at the age of 24, made a rare error on the exit to the Degner 1 curve at the end of a warm morning practice at Suzuka. He skimmed across the gravel and ended the 90 minute session as a sweaty spectator, removing his helmet and joining marshals behind the crash barriers with his car’s nose in the tyre wall. The German, who can retain his title with four races to spare, was third fastest in both the sessions before and after lunch with Red Bull’s times masking a healthy pace in their long runs. Button, who must win on Sunday and hope Vettel fails to score for the first time in 17 races dating back to last October, lapped the Honda-owned track with a fastest time of one minute 31.901 seconds in the afternoon. His quickest time in the morning was 1:33.634. Team mate Lewis Hamilton completed a McLaren one-two in the first session, 0.091 slower than the 2009 champion, who regards Japan as a second home race and has just signed a new multi-year contract with McLaren. Hamilton, the 2008 champion, was only eighth after the break. Australian Mark Webber, Vettel’s team mate who has still to win a race this year, was fifth and fourth respectively with Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso the closest to Button in the afternoon. Vettel’s incident provided a talking point from the morning session but his pride was more dented than the car, which nudged the tyre barrier after bouncing across the gravel. Winner from pole at Suzuka for the past two years, the German has a 124-point lead over Button with only 125 still to be won. Brazilian Rubens Barrichello crashed halfway through the afternoon session, also at Degner, with his Williams slamming into the tyre wall backwards with far more force than the Red Bull had. Venezuelan team mate Pastor Maldonado pulled up a short time after. Indians Karun Chandhok and Narain Karthikeyan each took part in practice for Team Lotus and HRT respectively, with both having
an eye on returning to racing at their country’s inaugural grand prix later this month.
