Lewis Hamilton’s hopes of wrestling the title initiative back from Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg at the Japanese Grand Prix weekend will have to wait another day, after the world champion finished behind his title rival in both free practice sessions at Suzuka on Friday.
Rosberg was a quarter of a second faster than Hamilton in the morning with his best lap, but in the afternoon stanza his best time of 1:32.250, was only a mere 0.072 of a second up on Hamilton, suggesting that there is very little between the two title contenders.
Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen was the best of the rest, 0.323 of a second slower than Rosberg, with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen the only other driver within one second of the benchmark pace set by Mercedes duo.
Sebastian Vettel, who will serve a three-place grid penalty on Sunday for his role in the opening-corner collision with Rosberg in Malaysia, was fifth on the timing sheets in his Ferrari.
Next up were the Force India pair, again showing handy pace, with Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg ending the 90 minutes session sixth and seventh respectively.
At Honda’s home race, McLaren’s Fernando Alonso recovered from a spin at the Spoon Curve in the opening session, to end the day eighth fastest. His team-mate Jenson Button could manage only 16th.
Valtteri Bottas was eighth for Williams, with Carlos Sainz rounding out the top ten in the Toro Rosso.
Malaysian Grand Prix winner Daniel Ricciardo ended the day 12th fastest.
Rosberg has been on pole at Suzuka for the past two seasons but failed to convert either into victory, with Hamilton triumphing on both occasions.
The German, who leads the standings by 23 points, has yet to stand on the top step of the Suzuka podium. The same could be said of him prior to the races at Spa-Francorchamps, Monza and Marina Bay – all grands prix he won for the first time this year.
Mercedes can seal the Formula 1 constructors’ championship this weekend – their third in as many seasons – and the sport’s all-conquering team were unsurprisingly the class of the field once more on Friday.
Report in progress…
Read the full story at GRAND PRIX 247
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