Hamilton faster than Mercedes dominates Japanese GP practice

SUZUKA, Japan (Reuters) – Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton was the fastest of the two practice sessions for the Japanese Grand Prix. The Mercedes driver put pressure on his rival Ferrari title, Sebastian Vettel.

Britain's Hamilton, the fastest in front of teammate Valtteri Bottas in the first few trials, further accelerated Suzuka's 5.8-kilometer run in the final session, clocking one minute, 28.217 seconds.

It was 0.833 seconds faster than Vettel, who moved from fifth place in the morning to third fastest in the second session, but did not respond to Hamilton's pace.

"I really did not know where we would stand alongside the Red Bulls and Ferraris," said the 33-year-old Briton at the end of the session. "But I just came here with the state of mind," Ok, I know where I want to get the car. "

A little more than half an hour after the 90-minute session, he had let out a shout of joy on the team radio: "This piece is great, I have the best day.

"(In) these new cars, we are much faster than last year," he said.

"… they do not make titles like that anymore."

Bottas, second again in the afternoon, could not get closer to 0.461 second of the best time of the British.

Hamilton, winner of five of the last six races, is ahead of Vettel by 50 points in the standings with four races to go after Japan.

FADING HOPES

Vettel was hoping that the Suzuka circuit would be better suited to his car than the last two races in Singapore and Russia to feed his hopes for an endangered title, but it is obvious that the Mercedes pair will be hard to beat.

Vettel's effort in the afternoon, though faster than his best attempt in the first 90 minutes, was still slower than Hamilton's morning record, which the Brit had imposed on softer tires.

"Time will tell, I do not know," said Vettel, 31, to the question of whether he thought the Hamilton deficit could be filled.

"We could not do it today, but no matter what they do, we look at each other and try to make the most of our package."

Max Verstappen, sixth in the morning, was the fourth fastest time for Red Bull ahead of Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen. Verstappen's teammate Daniel Ricciardo took sixth place in the afternoon after being third in the morning.

Esteban Ocon remained seventh, the Frenchman again the best of the rest of Force India, and Romain Grosjean was again eighth.

Marcus Ericsson finished ninth for Sauber in front of Kiwi Brendon Hartley, who has improved since the 17th to finish in the top 10.

Britain's Lando Norris, who would make his Formula 1 debut next season with McLaren, replaced Stoffel Vandoorne in the morning and finished last in the 20th.

The Belgian returned to the car in the afternoon but could not do better, again supporting the order.