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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

Pos	Driver	Team	Time	Gap	Laps
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.

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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Michael Delaney