Kovalainen fastest in opening Japan F1 practice

McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen emerged fastest after the first practice session for the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka on Friday.

The McLaren driver saved his best until last, recording a lap of 1 minute 40.356 seconds on his final tour of the circuit in the 90-minute practice.

The Finn's last-gasp lap dropped local favourite Kazuki Nakajima of Williams back to second, 0.292secs in arrears.

Force India's Adrian Sutil, Ferrari's Giancarlo Fisichella and Toro Rosso's Sebastien Buemi rounded out the top five.

It was a quiet morning for championship leader Jenson Button, with the Englishman finishing in 18th position.

The 29-year-old, who can secure his first Formula One title this weekend should he score five more points than Brawn GP teammate Rubens Barrichello in Sunday's race, was 2.9secs off Kovalainen's benchmark time.

Barrichello was ninth, while the only other man who still can win the 2009 crown, Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull Racing, finished in 17th.

Button is 15 points ahead of Barrichello in the championship standings with three races remaining.

Rain in the area ahead of the practice made for slow times in the early stages, with drivers on full rain tyres for the first half-hour.

McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, who won last weekend's Singapore Grand Prix, was the early pace-setter, and four other drivers topped the timesheets before Kovalainen's last-second flyer.

The Finn's session-best lap was just under nine seconds slower than the fastest lap recorded at the circuit, set by Kimi Raikkonen for McLaren in 2005.

Toyota's Timo Glock was replaced for the session by test driver Kamui Kobayashi, with the Japanese finishing his first official F1 practice in 19th place.

Glock, who was second to Hamilton last weekend in Singapore, has a heavy cold and fever, but hopes to be back for Saturday's qualifying.

Heavy rain is forecast for the remainder of Friday at Suzuka, with a second 90-minute practice session to take place in the afternoon.