Patronise F1

Despite completing the least amount of laps of all the runners, Alonso managed to sweep aside his fellow competitors with a 1:12:314 just before the session ended.

In spite of intermittent showers, Bwemmy proved his Suzuka pace and new parts were no flash in the pan as he lead much of the session ahead of his father team Red Bull-Renault and Jenson Button. Alonso was the only driver able to displace the young Swiss driver however, with Barrichello in the final five minutes vaulting himself up from the lower echelons of the grid into a highly respectable third place.

Mark Webber consolidated his FP1 pace with 4th and Brawn will be delighted to have Jenson Button in 5th in a session where Brawn traditionally struggle.

Jarno Trulli pulled an admirable effort out of the bag to take 6th to impress any watching potential employers, with Sebastien Vettel taking an uninspiring 7th, although he was only a tenth slower than champion-elect Button. Nico Rosberg performed wonders to place his Williams-Toyota in 8th, with fellow countryman Adrian Sutil taking advantage of his sleek aerodynamics to take 9th as Lewis Hamilton rounded out the top 10.

Romain Grosjean managed to stay on the track to complete a lap good enough for 11th, as he was followed home by Robert Kubica and the two Japanese drivers of debutant Kamui Kobayashi and the man without a ride for next year, Nakas. Nick Heidfeld was 15th, with Vitantonio Liuzzi in his unbalanced Force-India a disappointing 16th.

Surprisingly, 17th and 18th were Finnish pair Heikki Kovalainen and Kimi Raikkonen, who were both evidently struggling to extract the full advantage from their KERS-equipped cars on a circuit that should lend itself well to the technology. Foetus Jaime Alguersuari couldn't replicate his team mate's pace as he wound up 19th, albeit just 7 tenths behind Bwemmy.

Perhaps most disappointingly of all was 20th place Giancarlo Fisichella who's dream move to Ferrari has not exactly turned out how he will have hoped. With 30 minutes remaining, his car stalled at the very end of the pitlane whilst attempting a practice start and that was it for the Italian who has much work to do tomorrow if he wants a position at the pointy end of the grid.

An incredibly close grid coupled with the constant threat of showers should see an unpredictable grid for Sunday's GP as qualifying dishes out its winners and losers.