SUZUKA, Japan: Sebastian Vettel led championship leader Mark Webber in a dominant Red Bull one-two in both practice sessions for the Japanese Grand Prix Friday. While they flaunted an advantage of more than half a second over their title rival, McLaren's Lewis Hamilton could only watch impotently from the sidelines after crashing in the morning. When the 2008 Formula One champion did get back on track with eight minutes of the second session remaining, the Briton was able to complete just six laps with the 13th fastest time of the afternoon. The 25-year-old, determined to throw caution aside after three retirements in four races dropped him to third place and 20 points behind Webber, had completed nine laps before running wide at the Degner double right-hander and smacking the tire wall. The car came to a halt under the bridge with the front left wheel hanging limply. Hamilton stepped out, shaking his head but keeping his yellow helmet on to hide his undoubted fury at having to sit out the remaining 45 minutes. With heavy rain forecast for Saturday, the McLaren title contender knew he had blown his chance of really getting a feel for the new bits his team had brought to the race in an all-out push to catch up with Red Bull. The Red Bull drivers, teammates and fierce rivals, had no such problems with their cars powering around the flowing figure of eight circuit as if on rails. Vettel, last year's winner at the Honda-owned circuit and fourth in the title battle, set a best time of one minute 32.585 seconds on a dry track in the morning and then, with the sun high in the sky, bettered it after lunch with a 1:31.465. Australian Webber, who is 11 points clear of Ferrari's Fernando Alonso with four races remaining including Sunday's, was 0.048 and 0.395 slower. Renault's Robert Kubica was the best of the rest in both sessions, 0.544 slower in the first and an even more demoralizing 0.735 off the pace in the second. “This weekend for me, the Red Bulls will be a good half a second in front of people,” Williams' experienced Brazilian Rubens Barrichello had told reporters Thursday and he was right on the money. McLaren, who have vowed to throw everything ‘including the kitchen sink' at their car in the remaining races, had world champion Jenson Button sixth fastest in the afternoon. Despite his accident, Hamilton was fifth quickest in first practice. Button also went wide at Degner in that session but avoided Hamilton's fate. Alonso, who has won the last two races, ended the day fourth fastest with Brazilian teammate Felipe Massa fifth. Seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher, suffering in the Mercedes in his comeback season, was a morale-boosting eighth at one of his favorite circuits. ‘Schumi's good' Mercedes ridiculed reports Friday that seven-time champion Michael Schumacher had been told to raise his game or have his Formula One contract terminated a year early. Motorsport vice president Norbert Haug said the sport's most successful driver may even be driving better than ever despite his 41 years and being out-raced by young teammate Nico Rosberg. German tabloid newspaper Bild had raised the specter of an ultimatum in an unsourced report but Haug consigned that to the rubbish bin at a Japanese Grand Prix news conference. “Of course there was no ultimatum,” he said after Schumacher lapped quicker than Rosberg in both practice sessions at Suzuka, a challenging circuit where he has won six times in his career. “I think Michael again showed today his class, his full commitment. “We are currently a little bit handicapped with our car but I have no complaints and no regrets that we're going to achieve our target,” added the German.
