Suzuka, Japan - Finnish driver Heikki Kovalainen lead the first practice session for the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka on Friday, while championship frontrunner Jenson Button came in only 18th. Kovalainen, driving for McLaren-Mercedes, finished the 5.807-kilometre circuit in 1:40.356 minutes, 0.292 seconds ahead Japanese Williams-Toyota driver Kazuki Nakajima.
Adrian Sutil in a Force India car came in third on the rainy track, 0.45 seconds behind. Sutil was ahead of Giancarlo Fisichella, who is to return to a Formula One race for the first time since 2006.
Swiss rookie Sebastian Buemi, driving for the Torro Rosso team, came in fifth.
Brawn GP driver Button, who can win the championship on Sunday with two races to spare if he is ahead of teammate Rubens Barrichello by five points, held back in the practice run, as did his two main rivals.
Barrichello came in ninth, while Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull took 17th position. Barrichello trails Button by 15 points, Vettel by 25.
German driver Timo Glock hat to sit out the practice session owing to a fever and a heavy cold. The Toyota team doctors said the driver would be able to participate in Saturday's qualifying session.
