F1: Trulli Leads Final Practice

Formula 1

F1: Trulli Leads Final Practice

The Toyota of Jarno Trulli lead the way in the final practice at a sunny Suzuka Saturday...

SPEED Staff / GMM | Posted October 02, 2009 Suzuka (JPN)

The Toyota of Jarno Trulli lead the way in final Formula One Grand Prix practice at a sunny Suzuka on Saturday. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

The Toyota of Jarno Trulli lead the way in the final practice at a sunny Suzuka Saturday. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

After Friday's rain and wet track, the sun was out on Saturday morning as Suzuka hosted the final practice session before qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix with the Toyota of Jarno Trulli leading the way.

Toro Rosso driver Sebastien Buemi was second, Nico Rosberg was third for Williams, ahead of Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen and Force India's Adrian Sutil. In the second Red Bull, Mark Webber was 19th after crashing out.

The much nicer weather coincided with Trulli’s teammate Timo Glock's reduced fever and return to the Toyota cockpit, as the formula one field got in their first dry laps of running at the venue since 2006.

"His fever has gone down, he's not 100 per cent but well enough to drive," said a Toyota spokesman.

Japan could be a crucial event for Jenson Button, who only needs to score five more points than Rubens Barrichello to be crowned world champion.

But his Saturday practice got off to an awful start when he collided with Toro Rosso's Jaime Alguersuari and broke his front wing on the out lap.

There were several other incidents as well, the worst when Webber slid off and hit the wall at Degner 2. Heikki Kovalainen also slid off at the same spot but continued, having already been off the road in the chicane. Robert Kubica, Alguersuari and Romain Grosjean spun, while Nick Heidfeld spun at the hairpin and Fernando Alonso went off at Spoon.

Officially, more rain on Saturday is possible, but the probability of a wet qualifying session at 2:00 p.m. local is low.

FINAL PRACTICE

Pos Driver Team Time/Retired Gap Laps

1 Jarno Trulli Toyota 1:31.709 24
2 Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari 1:31.771 0.062 26
3 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 1:32.343 0.634 28
4 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault 1:32.414 0.705 19
5 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:32.445 0.736 26
6 Adrian Sutil Force India-Merc. 1:32.467 0.758 25
7 Rubens Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes 1:32.488 0.779 24
8 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 1:32.546 0.837 22
9 Jenson Button Brawn-Mercedes 1:32.668 0.959 25
10 Jaime Alguersuari STR-Ferrari 1:32.689 0.980 20
11 Romain Grosjean Renault 1:32.717 1.008 25
12 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 1:32.736 1.027 21
13 Fernando Alonso Renault 1:32.742 1.033 21
14 Timo Glock Toyota 1:32.749 1.040 26
15 Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota 1:32.752 1.043 23
16 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:32.789 1.080 19
17 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber 1:32.848 1.139 20
18 Giancarlo Fisichella Ferrari 1:32.878 1.169 26
19 Mark Webber RBR-Renault 1:32.930 1.221 15
20 Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India-Merc. 1:33.167 1.458 18

Watch The Japanese Grand Prix LIVE Sunday at 12:30 am. Eastern on SPEED

F1 RaceCast Online Now! Follow Formula One live online timing & scoring, practice, qualifying, race coverage, commentary and more on SPEEDtv.com!