Lewis Hamilton a été le plus rapide de la première séance d’essais libres au Japon. Valtteri Bottas est 2e. Daniel Ricciardo a fait le 3e. On retrouve ensuite les Ferrari et Max Verstappen.
| Pos | No | Pilote | Équipe | Temps | Écart | Tours |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:28.691 | 25 | |
| 2 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1:29.137 | +0.446s | 26 |
| 3 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer | 1:29.373 | +0.682s | 32 |
| 4 | 7 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 1:29.627 | +0.936s | 20 |
| 5 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1:29.685 | +0.994s | 20 |
| 6 | 33 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer | 1:29.841 | +1.150s | 30 |
| 7 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Force India Mercedes | 1:30.591 | +1.900s | 28 |
| 8 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Haas Ferrari | 1:30.814 | +2.123s | 22 |
| 9 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Sauber Ferrari | 1:30.929 | +2.238s | 27 |
| 10 | 9 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber Ferrari | 1:31.073 | +2.382s | 29 |
| 11 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda | 1:31.073 | +2.382s | 20 |
| 12 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Renault | 1:31.100 | +2.409s | 23 |
| 13 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Force India Mercedes | 1:31.272 | +2.581s | 29 |
| 14 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas Ferrari | 1:31.274 | +2.583s | 28 |
| 15 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | 1:31.418 | +2.727s | 18 |
| 16 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Williams Mercedes | 1:31.508 | +2.817s | 27 |
| 17 | 28 | Brendon Hartley | Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda | 1:31.908 | +3.217s | 23 |
| 18 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren Renault | 1:32.034 | +3.343s | 21 |
| 19 | 35 | Sergey Sirotkin | Williams Mercedes | 1:32.513 | +3.822s | 26 |
| 20 | 47 | Lando Norris | McLaren Renault | 1:32.683 | +3.992s | 30 |