Lewis Hamilton was in another league on Friday during the two free practice sessions on the first day of the Japanese Grand Prix weekend, not only was he well ahead of his teammate Valtteri Bottas in the sister Mercedes, he was a country mile ahead of title rival Sebastian Vettel in the Ferrari.
After ending the day unbeaten in both sessions, his best time of 1:28.217 was four-tenths up on Bottas, eight tenths better than Vettel's best and a full second faster than Max Verstappen in the Red Bull.
Speaking to reporters after his day in the cockpit, Hamilton said, “The Red Bulls were really quick here last year and naturally so, were the Ferraris. I wasn’t expecting that I just came here with the mindset of I know where I’ve got to get the car, I know there’s always areas to improve.”
Not only have Mercedes found the sweetspot in this final shoot-out for the championship, but they are also flaunting it while their star driver appears to get stronger and more motivated as his fifth title beckons.
Where did the table-topping time lap in FP2 come from?
The World Champion explained, “There are two or three corners where I thought: I know I need to kill it this weekend. I got straight onto it. Straight away I was much, much better than I’ve ever been through those particular corners. So now I’ve just got to stay on it, keep going, keep working."
With Bottas also comfortably ahead of Vettel, means the team have managed to squeeze something extra out of the W09 which has evolved impressively since the return to racing at Spa back in August.
“We are working so hard to fine-tuning this car, which we are becoming accustomed to now and as I said I’m loving driving more than ever,” added Hamilton who will hunting his fifth win at Suzuka on Sunday, his ninth of this campaign and leads the championship by 50 points with five rounds remaining.
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