Lewis Hamilton readdressed the balance in the second practice session for the Japanese GP, setting the pace ahead of Fernando Alonso.
While the McLaren duo lost out the Ferraris in Friday's opening practice, it was back to the front in the day's second session where they were the only drivers to break into the 1:18s.
Hamilton set the pace, posting a 1:18.734 to finish ahead of Alonso by 0.214s.
Felipe Massa flew the flag for Ferrari, clocking the third best time. However, the Brazilian was 0.749s slower than Hamilton's P1 time.
Giancarlo Fisichella and Heikki Kovalainen set the early pace before being overtaken by the McLarens with Hamilton leading the way on the soft Bridgestone tyres.
Alonso slotted in to second place, while Massa, who went off a few times at Turn Four, went third quickest. His team-mate Kimi Raikkonen improved to fifth place, relegating Fisichella to P6.
The Finn then moved ahead of Fisi's Renault team-mate to ensure a McLaren/Ferrari lock-out of the top four positions going into the final half an hour.
There was little change in the positions for the last half an hour with only the Toyotas breaking into the top eight.
Jarno Trulli made the leap up to fifth place at Toyota's home track much to the delight of the numerous fans in the grandstands, while Ralf Schumacher improved to P8.
Trulli, using soft tyres, then posted a 1:19.711 to move into fourth place, separating the two Ferrari drivers.
His team-mate Ralf was kicked out of the top eight in the final minute as David Coulthard slotted his Red Bull into P8.
Aside from many of the drivers fighting to find the apex at Turn Four there were few problems expected for Spyker's Sakon Yamamoto.
19 minutes into it the Japanese driver spun at Turn Four and while flicking his Spyker back around - and probably without looking - he connected with a speeding Honda.
Thankfully it was only a light clip, which knocked his car's wing off and after quick repairs in his team's garage he was back out on track. He did, however, finish second from last on the timesheets.
Only Super Aguri's Takuma Sato was slower than Yamamoto around the Fuji Speedway.
Times
01 L. Hamilton McLaren 1:18.734 38 laps
02 F. Alonso McLaren 1:18.948 34 laps
03 F. Massa Ferrari 1:19.483 36 laps
04 J. Trulli Toyota 1:19.711 35 laps
05 K. Räikkönen Ferrari 1:19.714 29 laps
06 H. Kovalainen Renault 1:19.789 40 laps
07 G. Fisichella Renault 1:19.926 39 laps
08 D. Coulthard Red Bull 1:19.949 33 laps
09 R. Schumacher Toyota 1:19.969 40 laps
10 R. Kubica BMW 1:20.069 45 laps
11 M. Webber Red Bull 1:20.006 35 laps
12 A. Wurz Williams 1:20.233 37 laps
13 N. Rosberg Williams 1:20.270 43 laps
14 J. Button Honda 1:20.336 44 laps
15 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:20.462 36 laps
16 A. Sutil Spyker F1 1:20.736 37 laps
17 R. Barrichello Honda 1:20.889 33 laps
18 V. Liuzzi Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:20.985 44 laps
19 S. Vettel Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:20.997 38 laps
20 A. Davidson Super Aguri 1:21.007 34 laps
21 S. Yamamoto Spyker F1 1:21.305 38 laps
22 T. Sato Super Aguri 1:21.352 34 laps
