FP2 at Suzuka: Hamilton and Mercedes double the lead

Already the author of the best time during the first free practice sessions, the Briton did it again in the afternoon and finished the opening day of Japan with the time reference.

Published on 05/10/2018 à 08:36

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FP2 at Suzuka: Hamilton and Mercedes double the lead

By signing a reference of 1’28”217, Lewis Hamilton left only crumbs for his competitors this Friday at Suzuka, starting with his teammate Valtteri Bottas. The Finn of Mercedes is once again relegated to more than four tenths of his leader at the wheel of the second Flèche d’Argent.

Only three drivers finish within the same second, Sebastian Vettel finishing 0,833s behind Hamilton aboard the top-ranked Ferrari. The first one Red Bull belongs to Max Verstappen. The Dutchman is in 4th place, ahead of Kimi Räikkönen (Ferrari) and his teammate Daniel Ricciardo.

While rain threatened upon arriving at the circuit this morning, the first two sessions took place in the dry and held no surprises on the timesheet.

Esteban Ocon doesn't care and continues to demonstrate that he feels particularly comfortable on the Suzuki track. The Frenchman from Force India takes 7th place for the second time of the day and is once again ahead of the Haas of his compatriot Romain Grosjean.

Marcus Ericsson (Sauber) and Brendon Hartley (Toro Rosso) offer a little originality in the second half of the Top 10 of the afternoon. THE Renault de Nico Hulkenberg et Carlos Sainz must be satisfied with the 12th and 14th ranks, Pierre Gasly (Toro Rosso) slipping between the two R.S.18s. Charles Leclerc concludes his working day with the 15th mark of these EL2s for Sauber.

At the bottom of the ranking, we find the two McLaren and both Williams in a scenario that is now repeated from weekend to weekend.

As in Sochi a week earlier, the Mercedes seemed to have a clear advantage on the evening of the first day of running at Suzuka. Will Ferrari and other Red Bulls find the solution to reverse the trend on Saturday in qualifying? Response at 15:00 p.m. local time (08:00 a.m. in France) with a session to follow live with commentary on CARhebdo.fr. Before that, the teams and drivers will have a final free run at 12:00 p.m. (05:00 a.m. in France).