Bottas leads FP3 but fails to complete session

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Valtteri Bottas led a Mercedes 1-2 ahead of Saturday's qualifying, but failed to complete the session following a contact with the barriers.

The Finn set the pace and just edged out team mate Lewis Hamilton by 0.014s while Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel was 0.324s adrift.

Japanese Grand Prix - Free Practice 2 results

Pos	Driver	Team	Time	Gap	Laps
1	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	1:29.055s		9
2	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:29.069s	+ 0.014s	19
3	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	1:29.379s	+ 0.324s	23
4	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	1:29.910s	+ 0.855s	15
5	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull	1:30.018s	+ 0.963s	13
6	Esteban Ocon	Force India	1:30.109s	+ 1.054s	12
7	Nico Hülkenberg	Renault	1:30.315s	+ 1.260s	19
8	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	1:30.424s	+ 1.369s	13
9	Sergio Pérez	Force India	1:30.563s	+ 1.508s	12
10	Jolyon Palmer	Renault	1:30.764s	+ 1.709s	22
11	Felipe Massa	Williams	1:30.764s	+ 1.709s	21
12	Stoffel Vandoorne	McLaren	1:30.770s	+ 1.715s	18
13	Carlos Sainz	Toro Rosso	1:30.799s	+ 1.744s	23
14	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	1:30.982s	+ 1.927s	12
15	Lance Stroll	Williams	1:31.011s	+ 1.956s	20
16	Pierre Gasly	Toro Rosso	1:31.353s	+ 2.298s	25
17	Romain Grosjean	Haas	1:31.459s	+ 2.404s	13
18	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber	1:32.579s	+ 3.524s	22
19	Pascal Wehrlein	Sauber	1:32.698s	+ 3.643s	21
20	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	1:33.962s	+ 4.907s	12

Yesterday's FP2 wash-out session encouraged everyone to get down to work at the outset, producing a busy hour ahead of the afternoon's all-important qualifying.

Fernando Alonso was the first driver out on the track, but bad news awaited his Japanese fans as McLaren was forced to break the overnight curfew for the second time this season in order to change the power unit on the Spaniard's, which implies a 35-place grid penalty for Sunday.

Hamilton quickly topped the timesheet following a run on soft rubber but he was just as quickly displaced by team mate Valtteri Bottas.

There was bit of drama for the Finn however after running wide at Spoon on the astroturf. He nearly kept it together but the Mercedes' right side still made contact with the barriers, forcing Bottas in to the pits and out of the session.

After a short red flag and a clean up by the marshals, drivers resumed their running but it was only a short respite.

Kimi Raikkonen carried too much speed into the second Degner corner, getting his Ferrari out of shape and into the gravel trap, a mishap which brought out another short red flag period.

Sebastian Vettel, who also had a moment early at Degner 2, ended the session 0.324s adrift from the Mercedes pair ahead, but almost half a second in front of Max Verstappen.

Red Bull Racing ran different set-ups in the morning practice - Ricciardo had the T-wing fitted to his RB13, whereas Verstappen ran without it.

Ultimately, the Dutch driver's configuration proved faster as he edged out his team mate by a tenth of a second.

The messy session saw Force India's Esteban Ocon finish P6, just ahead of Renault's Nico Hulkenberg.

Fernando Alonso looked fairly happy with his P8 performance as he rounded off the top ten along with Sergio Perez and Jolyon Palmer.

All in all, it was a warning shot by Mercedes before qualifying despite neither Bottas or Hamilton enjoying a fast lap on the supersoft tyre.

Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.