Hamilton fastest in first practice for Japanese Grand Prix

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain. (Laszlo Balogh/AP)

SUZUKA, Japan — Championship leader Lewis Hamilton clocked the fastest time in the first practice session for the Japanese Grand Prix to lead a 1-2 finish for Mercedes.

Hamilton had a time of 1 minute, 28.691 seconds, 0.446 seconds ahead of teammate Valtteri Bottas. Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo was third.

Ferrari drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel rounded out the top five in the Friday practice.

With five races to go, Hamilton would move a step closer to a winning a fifth world championship with a win in Suzuka.

Hamilton has won five of the last six Formula One races and three of the last four at the Japanese Grand Prix.

After winning the Russian GP last week, Hamilton leads Vettel by 50 points. Even if Vettel wins all five remaining races, he’s not guaranteed to beat Hamilton.

Conditions were cloudy at Suzuka with rain forecast for the second practice session later Friday.

[relatedlinks]

When submitting content, please abide by our submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.