Lewis Hamilton completed a sweep of all three practice sessions for the Japanese Grand Prix by setting the fastest time on a windy Saturday morning at Suzuka.
The final hour of practice was significantly disrupted by a rain shower shortly after the start, which confined drivers to their garages for a significant part of the hour’s running.
When the session resumed a very quick run through the first sector put Hamilton ahead. However championship rival Sebastian Vettel was just a tenth of a second behind him, having been quicker through the other two sectors. Team mate Kimi Raikkonen backed him up in second place.
The session was red-flagged with a few minutes left to run when Nico Hulkenberg crashed in the Esses. He was able to climb out of his Renault which sustained heavy rear end damage in the impact after he ran wide at turn four and spun into the turn five barriers.
Max Verstappen the quickest of the Red Bull drivers, was seven-tenths of a second off Hamilton’s pace. Esteban Ocon, leading the midfielders, was another 0.7 seconds behind.
There was some cheer for Renault as Carlos Sainz Jnr put his car in ninth place. Kevin Magnussen’s Haas completed the top 10.
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Third practice visual gaps
Lewis Hamilton – 1’29.599
+0.116 Sebastian Vettel – 1’29.715
+0.455 Kimi Raikkonen – 1’30.054
+0.705 Max Verstappen – 1’30.304
+0.823 Valtteri Bottas – 1’30.422
+0.875 Daniel Ricciardo – 1’30.474
+1.489 Esteban Ocon – 1’31.088
+1.884 Sergio Perez – 1’31.483
+1.914 Carlos Sainz Jnr – 1’31.513
+1.922 Kevin Magnussen – 1’31.521
+2.037 Romain Grosjean – 1’31.636
+2.161 Charles Leclerc – 1’31.760
+2.431 Brendon Hartley – 1’32.030
+2.602 Lance Stroll – 1’32.201
+2.625 Nico Hulkenberg – 1’32.224
+2.843 Marcus Ericsson – 1’32.442
+3.009 Fernando Alonso – 1’32.608
+3.032 Sergey Sirotkin – 1’32.631
+3.435 Stoffel Vandoorne – 1’33.034
+3.506 Pierre Gasly – 1’33.105
Drivers more then ten seconds off the pace omitted.
| Pos | Driver | Car | FP1 | FP2 | FP3 | Fri/Sat diff | Total laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’28.691 | 1’28.217 | 1’29.599 | +1.382 | 69 |
| 2 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1’29.137 | 1’28.678 | 1’30.422 | +1.744 | 69 |
| 3 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1’29.685 | 1’29.050 | 1’29.715 | +0.665 | 70 |
| 4 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull-TAG Heuer | 1’29.841 | 1’29.257 | 1’30.304 | +1.047 | 75 |
| 5 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull-TAG Heuer | 1’29.373 | 1’29.513 | 1’30.474 | +1.101 | 69 |
| 6 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1’29.627 | 1’29.498 | 1’30.054 | +0.556 | 66 |
| 7 | Esteban Ocon | Force India-Mercedes | 1’30.591 | 1’30.035 | 1’31.088 | +1.053 | 72 |
| 8 | Romain Grosjean | Haas-Ferrari | 1’30.814 | 1’30.440 | 1’31.636 | +1.196 | 68 |
| 9 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’31.073 | 1’30.478 | 1’32.442 | +1.964 | 72 |
| 10 | Brendon Hartley | Toro Rosso-Honda | 1’31.908 | 1’30.502 | 1’32.030 | +1.528 | 63 |
| 11 | Sergio Perez | Force India-Mercedes | 1’31.272 | 1’30.510 | 1’31.483 | +0.973 | 69 |
| 12 | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | 1’31.418 | 1’30.644 | 1’32.224 | +1.58 | 66 |
| 13 | Pierre Gasly | Toro Rosso-Honda | 1’31.073 | 1’30.795 | 1’33.105 | +2.31 | 40 |
| 14 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Renault | 1’31.100 | 1’30.904 | 1’31.513 | +0.609 | 68 |
| 15 | Charles Leclerc | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’30.929 | 1’30.906 | 1’31.760 | +0.854 | 67 |
| 16 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas-Ferrari | 1’31.274 | 1’30.956 | 1’31.521 | +0.565 | 66 |
| 17 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren-Renault | 1’32.034 | 1’30.988 | 1’32.608 | +1.62 | 69 |
| 18 | Sergey Sirotkin | Williams-Mercedes | 1’32.513 | 1’31.087 | 1’32.631 | +1.544 | 79 |
| 19 | Lance Stroll | Williams-Mercedes | 1’31.508 | 1’31.215 | 1’32.201 | +0.986 | 73 |
| 20 | Stoffel Vandoorne | McLaren-Renault | 1’31.981 | 1’33.034 | +1.053 | 45 | |
| 21 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Renault | 1’32.683 | 30 |
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