Hamilton completes Japan F1 practice sweep in FP3

Lewis Hamilton completed a clean sweep of practice for the Japanese Grand Prix by topping a rain-hit FP3 at Suzuka on Saturday, narrowly beating Formula 1 title rival Sebastian Vettel.

Light rain in the early part of the session forced drivers to spend 15 minutes in the pits as they waited for conditions to improve, with the air temperature of 26ºC ensuring the track dried out quickly when the rain stopped falling.

Drivers were able to get back to their regular FP3 programmes late in the session, and it was Hamilton who once again managed to lead the standings for Mercedes, following his charge to P1 in both FP1 and FP2 on Friday.

Hamilton put in a fastest lap time of 1m29.599s on the Supersoft tyre to edge out title rival Vettel by 0.116 seconds in the final standings, giving the Mercedes driver a boost heading into qualifying later today.

While it marked a reduced gap between Mercedes and Ferrari compared to Friday’s running, it was Vettel who once again found himself on the back foot. The German driver trails Hamilton by 50 points in the drivers’ championship with five races remaining this year.

Kimi Raikkonen took third place in the standings for Ferrari, four-tenths back from Hamilton’s fastest time, while Max Verstappen led Red Bull’s charge in P4. Valtteri Bottas took fifth for Mercedes, with Ricciardo following in sixth behind the wheel of the second Red Bull.

Force India led the midfield teams as Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez finished seventh and eighth respectively, with Carlos Sainz Jr. and Kevin Magnussen completing the top 10.

Sainz was Renault’s sole representative in the top 10 as teammate Nico Hulkenberg ended his session in the wall, ing at Turn 6 after touching the grass on the left-hand side of the track in the final five minutes of the session.

The impact left the right-rear of his Renault car with severe damage, putting the team in a race against time to get the fixes completed for qualifying. It also triggered a red flag that brought FP3 to an early end at Suzuka.