BBC Sport's Sarah Holt in Suzuka: "There was an amusing question from a German journalist during Friday's media conference for six leading technical directors. 'Mercedes next year have five former technical directors, how can you survive against his human brain power?'
he asked. Mercedes actually have four technical bosses after employing Aldo Costa, formerly of Ferrari, and Geoff Willis, from HRT, in the build-up to Japan to join Bob Bell and technical boss turned team principal Ross Brawn. 'Yeah, all is lost," joked McLaren's technical chief Paddy Lowe in response. 'I think we should just all go home! No, they're all good guys. We look forward to competing against them.' Red Bull's Adrian Newey straight-batted his response, saying: 'I'm going to worry about what we do in Milton Keynes, not what's happening in [Mercedes HQ] Brackley, to be perfectly honest.' Very sensible, Adrian. Maybe that's why Red Bull are so good, eh? No joking in the design department."
Senna loses wheel in practice crash
0455: Scores on the doors. BBC One's coverage starts at 0500 BST, with qualifying set to run from 0600-0700 BST. Third practice was a fairly quiet affair, with the significant exception of a nasty crash for Renault's Bruno Senna. Have the team had time to patch up his motor in time for qualifying?
0445: Right then, if a Formula 1 weekend is a taster menu then I think we're probably on to the fish course, with the meat to come in tomorrow's race. Not sure about where dessert fits it - the champagne on the podium I guess. Anyway, Jenson Button certainly enjoyed all three of his hors-d'oeuvres, posting the fastest time in first, second and third practice - but can he top the pile in qualifying as well, or will Sebastian Vettel stamp his class on proceedings to rack up his 12th pole of the season? We will soon be finding out.
0411: Right then, a quick pit-stop for us here. Have a read of Sarah Holt's report from third practice and we'll be back with you at 0445 BST, 15 minutes before the qualifying show starts on BBC One.
JmJones1988 on Twitter: "McLaren 1-2 wish we could see that in a race... It's been too long! Time for an hours sleep before #bbcf1 at 5. Night all."
0405: So Button is the main man once again but he still doesn't look completely happy with the car as the cameras show him locked in conversation with a McLaren techie. It was a McLaren 1-2 with Hamilton second, Vettel third and Alonso fourth. Bubbling up nicely for qualifying.
0401: JENSON BUTTON IS FASTEST IN THIRD PRACTICE WITH A TIME OF 1.31.255.
0358: We're riding with Vettel now with Anthony Davidson purring over the quality of the Red Bull. But it looks like the German is still running on a heavy fuel load as he comes in third.
0356: Lewis Hamilton goes second but he's still 0.5 secs slower than his team-mate Button. And he's going to have another crack.
Lathamo on Twitter: "Right guys you have tempted me into a all nighter, and by the looks of things i have made the right decision."
0353: Slightly strangely, Jenson Button has now got out of his car so his practice session is over. A McLaren mechanic confirms they want the extra time to make final changes to the car before qualifying.
0349: Lots of movement at the top of the leaderboard as Michael Schmacher displaces his team-mate Rosberg with a lap of 1:32.725 before Webber goes second. Here's Button on the softs ... easy peasy ... he's the new number one with a time of 1:31.255 - the fastest of the three practice sessions so far.
0343: Rosberg was on the soft tyres by the way, in case you were wondering where he got his pace from. Lewis Hamilton is consistently the fastest over the opening section, but is only fifth-quickest overall. Jenson Button is second - some week for the silky-smooth Brit.
0340: Here comes Alonso, his red Ferrari dancing through the Esses as he charts in second place. Vettel goes third before Nico Rosberg storms to the quickest time of the session so far with a 1:32.878.
Renault's Bruno Senna: "Unfortunately I was pushing too hard. I put my wheel on the exit of the kerb; the car bottomed out and spun me into the wall. It's not ideal, especially before qualifying, but the first lap was a good indicator that we've made good progress on car. I'm grateful that the team are very supportive of me. I'm pushing hard; I'm not here for fun. Sometimes I make mistakes and they understand it."
BBC 5 live analyst Anthony Davidson on Bruno Senna's crash: "He dropped a wheel on the kerb on the exit of Spoon Curve which spun him round and sent him into the barriers. That's a fairly big punishment for what was quite a small mistake. You have got to feel sorry for Bruno Senna because he's trying so desperately to play catch up here. Mistakes are going to happen. It's never a good thing to have a crash but it is better to have it now in practice rather than the race."
0332: Senna's Renault looks like it has done five rounds with Mike Tyson, with its nose spead across its face. Cars are coming back on to the track now.
BBC 5 live analyst Anthony Davidson: "Jenson Button has been struggling in the high speed corners. He wasn't able to run the DRS (overtaking aid) through 130R in practice and his team-mate Lewis Hamilton was. He has been complaining about the balance of his car and during one of long runs on Friday he had to make an adjustment to the front wing. He's not that happy with the car, which is why he's out early."
0328: Big mistake from the Brazilian and the Renault team will have their work cut out to get that car back in shape for qualifying.
0326: Crash, bang, wallop. Bruno Senna slides across the track, hits the wall and ends up with one of his front wheels on top of his car. And it's a RED FLAG. Practice suspended while they clear up the mess.
BBC Sport's Sarah Holt in Suzuka: "Red Bull design guru - or to give him his less glamorous official title, chief technical officer - Adrian Newey was doing his best to prevent himself being drawn into comparing Sebastian Vettel and other champion drivers he has worked with in the past. Newey has worked with Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna and Mika Hakkinen but would not say whether he ranked Vettel, who is on the verge of becoming a double world champion this weekend, alongside them. 'Sebastian is obviously supremely talented but I think it's unfair to compare one driver I've worked with against another,' Newey said. 'Sebastian is gifted naturally but he works hard at it and that is always the hallmark of a great driver. Like most good drivers, he has a good feeling for the car. He's very strong in some areas, he has a good feeling for the tyres. He's a very bright young lad who thinks a lot about what he does and takes a lot of time to try and understand the car and his own performance.'"
0321: Nothing to trouble the scorers from Vettel as he cruises round in ninth place. Think he has a fair bit of fuel on board. Speaking of the defending champion...
0319: Sharp from Alguersuari as he posts a 1:36.056. Jenson Button is the first of the big boys to get involved. Let's see what he can do - he goes top with a 1:33.493. Vettel on his way round now...
0315: Looks like Pastor Maldonado is going to be the first driver to put a score on the board. The Venezuelan clocks up a 1:41.979. That's a good 10 seconds slower than Button's best effort yesterday.
BBC pit-lane reporter Ted Kravitz: "There's a little bit of a conundrum down here in the pit lane as to who has the quickest car this weekend. For qualifying, Red Bull have been quick all season and there's no reason as to why they won't be again here at Suzuka. In terms of race pace, we saw that practice two seemed to be a walkover with Red Bull holding a one-second gap over their rivals however McLaren aren't so sure. They're convinced Red Bull weren't running that much fuel. McLaren are also convinced that their new DRS (overtaking aid) wing, which was designed for this circuit, will mean that if they get within sniffing distance of a Red Bull on track, they'll be able to pass them."
SarahJones123 on Twitter: "Decided to pull an all nighter! So draining but so worth it."
0305: Just Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Perez out on the track at the moment. The drivers have been completing their installation laps before returning to the garage for some tweaks. Will let you know when the lap times start rolling in.
BBC pit-lane reporter Lee McKenzie: "It's a relief to see the sun shining after last year's rain-fest that saw qualifying postponed until Sunday morning. That was of course the race that I presented on BBC One as Jake Humphrey was away working on the Commonwealth Games, and it was a pretty tough one. The rain fell and fell and yet we stayed on air for two-and-a-half hours and spoke to all the drivers, who were just killing time by having a go at being photographers and even making paper boats to sail down the pit lane. In 2009, qualifying was equally dramatic, with Mark Webber missing it after crashing his Red Bull in final practice and then many more accidents in qualifying, including a big one which saw Toyota's Timo Glock injured and eventually missing the race. Hopefully today will go much more smoothly for everyone."
0300: Speed, we have speed. Third practice is underway under bright blue skies at Suzuka.
0255: Ok then, five minutes to go and live coverage from Suzuka has just begun on the Red Button, BBC Radio 5 live sports extra and the console at the top of this page.
BBC Sport's Sarah Holt in Suzuka: "Whether there will be a genuine fight for pole in qualifying at 0600 BST relies wholly on whether anyone can blot Sebastian Vettel's impeccable record at this track. Red Bull's defending world champion has won from pole in his two previous appearances here. But the 24-year-old succumbed to a wobble during Friday practice when he lost control through the Degners and crunched his Red Bull through the gravel and into the barriers. 'In that moment I wasn't 100% awake,' said Vettel. 'Mistakes around here can be quite costly.The circuit seems pretty tricky this year on these tyres - they make the cars seem more alive."
0250: Discussion here at BBC HQ about sleep strategies for our F1 coverage. Personally I went for two-sleep strategy, while my co-pilots Lawrence Barretto and Rob Dugdale wore their tyres down and slept just the once before setting their alarms for the early hours. Wherever you are, I hope you've loaded up on fuel and will be getting in touch. The usual rules apply. Text us on 81111 if you are in the UK or use Twitter on hashtag #BBCF1. Excellent.
Team Williams on Twitter: "After a considerably limited time on track yesterday, we're hoping for a more productive P3 this morning - it's dry at least!"
BBC Sport's Sarah Holt in Suzuka: "Sunshine and brilliant blue skies have welcomed in the weekend in Suzuka. Among the city's squat, grey buildings, mini shopping malls and randomn patches of vegetables and sunflowers, snakes a queue of traffic making its way to the circuit for final practice and qualifying. Formula 1 is well supported in Japan, even without a national team or tyre supplier this season, and the fans making their way to the track are showing their support for anyone and everyone, wearing everything from old Honda, McLaren and Kimi Raikkonen shirts to this season's Red Bull and Ferrari replica team kits. So, we have an exciting and enthusiastic crowd filling the grandstands and concrete terraces. Now, it is up to the drivers to provide fitting entertainment on track."
Button seeks McLaren improvement
0235: Time to synchronise watches. Final practice gets underway at 0300 BST and lasts an hour. Then it's qualifying from 0600 to 0700. Vettel had a mixed day on Friday, crashing in the closing stages of P1 before recovering to show some ominous race pace in the latter stages of P2. And Button knows that despite posting the fastest times in both of Friday's sessions, the McLarens one again have the work cut out to match the Red Bulls.
0230: Now then. Good morning/afternoon/evening everyone and welcome to coverage of final practice and qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka. It's very much the middle of the night here in the UK but we're revving up our engines for some more thrills and spills from a track that rarely fails to deliver. Championship leader Sebastian Vettel has his eyes firmly set on a 12th pole position of the season, but can Jenson Button - the only man who can prevent the German sealing the title on Sunday - throw a spanner in the works?
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