Hamilton and Mercedes top first free practice at Suzuka

Lewis Hamilton topped the first free practice session of the Japanese Grand Prix weekend on Friday morning in Suzuka, the Mercedes driver clocking in with an impressive 1m28.691s on Pirelli’s soft compound.

The Brit edged team mate Valtteri Bottas by 0.443s in what was a very encouraging session for Mercedes, while Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo was third, over half a second adrift from the morning’s leader.

Ferrari was almost a full second off the pace, with Kimi Raikkonen concluding FP1 fourth in front of Sebastian Vettel in fifth. Further down the order, Esteban Ocon head the ‘Class B’ field for Force India, from Haas’ Romain Grosjean

2018 Japanese Grand Prix – Free Practice 1

1
Lewis Hamilton
Mercedes
1:28.691s

25

2
Valtteri Bottas
Mercedes
1:29.137s
+ 0.446s

26

3
Daniel Ricciardo
Red Bull
1:29.373s
+ 0.682s

32

4
Kimi Räikkönen
Ferrari
1:29.627s
+ 0.936s

20

5
Sebastian Vettel
Ferrari
1:29.685s
+ 0.994s

20

6
Max Verstappen
Red Bull
1:29.841s
+ 1.150s

30

7
Esteban Ocon
Force India
1:30.591s
+ 1.900s

28

8
Romain Grosjean
Haas
1:30.814s
+ 2.123s

22

9
Charles Leclerc
Sauber
1:30.929s
+ 2.238s

27

10
Marcus Ericsson
Sauber
1:31.073s
+ 2.382s

29

11
Pierre Gasly
Toro Rosso
1:31.073s
+ 2.382s

20

12
Carlos Sainz
Renault
1:31.100s
+ 2.409s

23

13
Sergio Pérez
Force India
1:31.272s
+ 2.581s

29

14
Kevin Magnussen
Haas
1:31.274s
+ 2.583s

28

15
Nico Hülkenberg
Renault
1:31.418s
+ 2.727s

18

16
Lance Stroll
Williams
1:31.508s
+ 2.817s

27

17
Brendon Hartley
Toro Rosso
1:31.908s
+ 3.217s

23

18
Fernando Alonso
McLaren
1:32.034s
+ 3.343s

21

19
Sergey Sirotkin
Williams
1:32.513s
+ 3.822s

26

20
Lando Norris
McLaren
1:32.683s
+ 3.992s

30

Drivers were greeted with mild temperatures – 21°C – and an overcast sky, but the light drizzle that had been falling all morning over Suzuka let up in time for FP1.

Lando Norris – running in place of Stoffel Vandoorne at McLaren – was the only test driver entered in the opening free session.

Everyone except Kimi Raikkonen, Max Verstappen and the two Mercedes were up and running in the first few minutes, with Daniel Ricciardo – running on soft tyres – putting the first significant time on the board with a 1m30.312s.

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Max Verstappen quickly overhauled his Red Bull team mate by 0.012s but the Aussie fought back immediately with a 1m30.030s, the duo appearing very active in the early part of the session.

The Mercedes finally found their way out on to the track, with Hamilton slotting himself in to third ahead of Bottas. Further down the order, Sebastian Vettel’s first flying lap was inconclusive, the Ferrari driver locking up at the chicane and having to across the run-off area.

As they put in the laps, the Silver Arrows pair crept to the front, with Bottas fastest in 1m29.842s on the medium compound.

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Hamilton suffered a moment however, caught out by a very slow Pierre Gasly at the chicane, and just narrowly missing the Toro Rosso. At the same spot a lap later, Force India’s Sergio Perez spun after putting a wheel on the grass.

Fernando Alonso was another driver to run off the track, spectacularly spinning across the gravel at the first part of Degner.

Meanwhile, the Mercedes had moved on to soft tyres, a move that resulted in Hamilton going fastest with a 1m28.691s.

As long runs on heavy fuel ensued for many drivers, the times remained unchanged in the final minutes of the session.

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