Ferrari's Felipe Massa signs autographs on his way into the track ahead of practice on Friday morning
Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, winner of the last two grands prix, watches the start of practice at Suzuka from the Ferrari pit
Michael Schumacher sneezes while wearing his helmet as he prepares to get into his car for the start of first practice in Japan
Sebastian Vettel won this race for Red Bull in 2009 and he needs to do the same this year to get his title chances back on track. He has a new helmet for the occasion
The pressure is on Lewis Hamilton in Japan after crashing out of the last two races - and the Englishman has another off in the first session at Suzuka, running wide at Degner Two and taking the left-hand side off his car
Suzuka is a circuit like no other - from its combination of demanding corners, including this fast left-hander called Dunlop, to the fact that it is located in a fairground
Oops. Hamilton's weekend gets off to a bad start when he crashes at Degner Two, one of Suzuka's slowest but trickest corners, about halfway through the first practice session
Hamilton is clearly unhappy about his error - he stands by the side of the track under the fly-over with his helmet on for several minutes before trudging back to the pits
With Hamilton back in the pits, his old rival Fernando Alonso pounds in the miles, putting his Ferrari through the paces around Suzuka's demanding curves
Virgin's new Friday test driver Jerome D'Ambrosio gets his second taste of F1 after making his debut with the team in Singapore two weeks ago
Hamilton's team-mate Jenson Button also runs off the track at Degner, but he gets away with it and is able to continue on his way, giving McLaren valuable information on their latest updates
Vettel's car might be obscured by the trees, but there is no hiding the fact that the Red Bull is the car to beat at Suzuka this weekend
After a quiet morning, Ferrari move to the top of the timesheets with Fernando Alonso making the early running in the second practice session
But it does not take long for those Red Bulls to dominate again and Australian championship leader Mark Webber sets the quickest time
This time does not last long as Vettel, who has claimed seven poles out of the 15 races so far this season, sets a 1:31.465 - the fastest lap of the day
It is not just Lewis Hamilton who finds staying on the track a little tricky as Renault's Robert Kubica also visits the gravel after spinning at the Dunlop Curve
Michael Schumacher, a six-time winner of the Japanese Grand Prix, has difficulties at the same corner that troubled Hamilton but the Mercedes driver manages to avoid contact with the tyre wall
McLaren mechanics work frantically to try to give Hamilton some time on the track, the Briton getting out with nine minutes left in the second session - setting the 13th fastest time
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