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Hamilton remains in charge in tricky FP3 at Suzuka

Lewis Hamilton remained the fastest driver around Suzuka for the third time this weekend, the Mercedes laying down a lap in 1m29.599s in a tricky final practice session marked by a spell of rain, gusty winds and a heavy crash for Renault's Nico Hulkenberg that brought out the red flag.

Hamilton edged Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen by just 0.116s and 0.455s respectively, with team mate Valtteri Bottas placing himself fourth in front of Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo.

2018 Japanese Grand Prix - Free Practice 2

Pos	Driver	Team	Time	Gap	Laps
1	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:29.599s		13
2	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	1:29.715s	+ 0.116s	14
3	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	1:30.054s	+ 0.455s	13
4	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	1:30.304s	+ 0.705s	13
5	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	1:30.422s	+ 0.823s	13
6	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull	1:30.474s	+ 0.875s	10
7	Esteban Ocon	Force India	1:31.088s	+ 1.489s	12
8	Sergio Pérez	Force India	1:31.483s	+ 1.884s	12
9	Carlos Sainz	Renault	1:31.513s	+ 1.914s	14
10	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	1:31.521s	+ 1.922s	13
11	Romain Grosjean	Haas	1:31.636s	+ 2.037s	14
12	Charles Leclerc	Sauber	1:31.760s	+ 2.161s	14
13	Brendon Hartley	Toro Rosso	1:32.030s	+ 2.431s	13
14	Lance Stroll	Williams	1:32.201s	+ 2.602s	14
15	Nico Hülkenberg	Renault	1:32.224s	+ 2.625s	12
16	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber	1:32.442s	+ 2.843s	10
17	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	1:32.608s	+ 3.009s	14
18	Sergey Sirotkin	Williams	1:32.631s	+ 3.032s	14
19	Stoffel Vandoorne	McLaren	1:33.034s	+ 3.435s	13
20	Pierre Gasly	Toro Rosso	1:33.105s	+ 3.506s	10

Reports called for some light rain around Suzuka at the start of the third free practice session, but everyone took to a dry track while the clouds moved in.

Ferraris Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel were among the first to get down to business, running unsurprisingly on supersoft tyres. The Finn's early effort yielded a 1m30.054s, with his team mate about a tenth slower.

Ten minutes into the running, the wind picked up the rain did appear, enticing drivers to dodge the water and pull into the pits.

After about 15 minutes of zero activity, Valtteri Bottas ventured out, reporting back to the Mercedes pitwall that "the track feels okay".

Pirelli blames typhoons for Suzuka tyre wear

Caution was exerted however, with everyone avoiding the kerbs and the astroturf. Raikkonen ran wide however at the final part of the Esses, enjoying a bit of rallycross before rejoining the track.

The wind, which in the interim had blown away the clouds and revealed a blue sky over Suzuka once again, was definitely challenging drivers in several areas, but a great first sector by Hamilton still put the Brit at the top of the timesheet with a 1m29.599.

With just over two minutes to go in the session, Nico Hulkenberg picked up a gust at the Essess, put a wheel on the kerb and went off before clouting the barriers.

The Renault sustained some heavy damage that will leave the French team's mechanics scrambling to repair the German's car in time for qualifying.

The session was red-flagged and eventually terminated, but the incident was definitely a warning that a delicate qualifying lay ahead.

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Michael Delaney