Rosberg cautious of Red Bull threat in Japan after Friday practice - MotorSportsTalk

Nico Rosberg remains wary of the threat posed by Red Bull at Suzuka following Friday’s Formula 1 practice running ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix.

Rosberg led both practice sessions ahead of teammate and drivers’ championship rival Lewis Hamilton as Mercedes dominated proceedings at Suzuka.

Red Bull’s leading driver in FP2 was Max Verstappen, who finished eight-tenths of a second adrift of Rosberg over one lap, but the German is wary of the threat the team may pose given it did not complete a time on the soft-compound tire.

“It’s been a case of finding my way today. It began with quite a lot of understeer and we had to work through the setup in order to find a better balance on the car,” Rosberg explained.

“In the afternoon, the medium tire didn’t seem as strong as the hard as we saw in Malaysia. However, on the soft tire we showed good one-lap pace, the balance felt good and the track was really exciting to drive.

“It looks like we’re ahead of the Ferraris, but it remains to be seen as to where we are compared to the Red Bulls.”

Following his agonizing retirement when leading the Malaysian Grand Prix last weekend, Hamilton felt grateful to have a trouble-free Friday despite trailing Hamilton in both sessions.

“It’s been a really good day with no problems on the car which is great. We managed to get plenty of laps in but there’s still some work to be done overnight in order to find more pace,” Hamilton said.

“That’s a work in progress and hopefully we’ll be going into Sunday in good shape. It’s great to be here in Japan and I’m excited to get out on track again for qualifying tomorrow.”

Qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix is live on NBCSN from 2am ET on Saturday.

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In a continuing effort to help fans keep track of the on track action, SuperMotocross is in the process of developing and implementing leader lights for the unified series.

Currently Supercross (SMX) utilizes stanchions in the infield that are triggered manually by a race official. At least two stanchions are used in each race as a way to draw the eye to the leader, which is especially useful in the tight confines of the stadium series when lapping often begins before the halfway mark in the 22-bike field. This system has been in place for the past two decades.

Later this year, a fully automated system will move to the bike itself to replace the old system. At that point, fans will be able to identify the leader regardless of where he is on track.

The leader lights were tested in the second Anaheim round this year. An example can be seen at the 1:45 mark in the video above on the No. 69 bike.

“What we don’t want to do is move too fast, where it’s confusing to people,” said Mike Muye, senior director of operations for Supercross and SMX in a press release. “We’ve really just focused on the leader at this point with the thought that maybe down the road we’ll introduce others.”

Scheduled to debut with the first SuperMotocross World Championship race at zMax Dragway, located just outside the Charlotte Motor Speedway, a 3D carbon fiber-printed LED light will be affixed to each motorcycle. Ten timing loops positioned around the track will trigger the lights of the leader, which will turn green.

SMX’s partner LiveTime Scoring helped develop and implement the system that has been tested in some form or fashion since 2019.

When the leader lights are successfully deployed, SuperMotocross will explore expanding the system to identify the second- and third-place riders. Depending on need and fan acceptance, more positions could be added.

SuperMotocross is exploring future enhancements, including allowing for live fan interaction with the lights and ways to use the lighting system during the race’s opening ceremony.

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