Zoom A solid start to the weekend from Timo Glock

Toyota: Not fast in the morning, but Timo Glock learned the circuit quickly and ended the day with the fastest time at the track owned by Toyota. "It will obviously be difficult to keep the position for the whole weekend," the German acknowledged.

Renault: Fernando Alonso was inside the top five in both sessions, and P2 in the afternoon. "It's difficult to judge the hierarchy after the first couple of sessions," said engine boss Denis Chevrier.

McLaren Mercedes & Ferrari: Title rivals Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa were closely matched for pace on Friday, with Hamilton wielding a fractional edge in both 90-minute sessions. "It seems very finely balanced with the lap times all very close," said Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen, fifth.

Red Bull Renault: Mark Webber was sixth fastest in the afternoon, six-tenths and 11 places ahead of his teammate David Coulthard.

Williams Toyota: Local driver Kazuki Nakajima was faster than his highly rated teammate Nico Rosberg in both sessions. "It's definitely going to be more difficult here than it was in Singapore for us," said Rosberg, who finished F1's night race second two weeks ago.

Toro Rosso Ferrari: Sebastian Vettel was in the top-eight all day, but he lamented losing afternoon track time with a hydraulic problem. "For race setup I would have preferred more time to do some long runs," he said.

BMW Sauber: Nick Heidfeld, who spun in the morning, had technical problems in the afternoon but was also lacked pace. Robert Kubica was eleventh fastest. "We are lacking overall grip," said the Pole.

Honda: While Rubens Barrichello is targeting Q2, Jenson Button recorded the slowest best time of the three hours of practice at Fuji Speedway. "Our car is not well suited to this circuit," said engineering boss Steve Clark.

Force India Ferrari: Adrian Sutil was as high as 11th in the morning and still in front of his teammate Giancarlo Fisichella in the afternoon. "I just feel good here," said the German, who knows the Fuji layout well thanks to his days in Japanese F3.

Source: GMM
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