Japanese Grand Prix: Lewis Hamilton revels in the ‘best rollercoaster ride I’ve ever felt’ as he dominates practice

Championship leader believes the Mercedes is running at its strongest all year after leaving Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari in his dust during Friday practice

Lewis Hamilton appeared in ominous form in Japanese Grand Prix practice (Getty)

If anyone still harbours any doubts about Lewis Hamilton’s commitment to winning a fifth world championship, given his recent ventures in the world of fashion, he blew them – and the rest of the field – away with a scintillating start to his campaign to win the Japanese Grand Prix.

Hamilton, like all of the drivers, loves the Suzuka Circuit. And he dominated it with a lap nearly half a second quicker than teammate Valtteri Bottas’s best, and eighth-tenths better than Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari.

His sole problem was an incident at the chicane at the end of the lap during this morning’s practice when Pierre Gasly wandered on to the racing line and Hamilton had to take avoiding action and run down the escape road. The Frenchman, normally known for decent track manners, was given an official reprimand.

Hamilton picked up where had left off in that session when running resumed in the afternoon, his best lap of 1m 28.217s comfortably beating Bottas’s 1m 28.678s and Vettel’s 1m 29.050s. Behind them, the Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo sandwiched Kimi Raikkonen’s Ferrari.

As Bottas worried about the deficit to his team-mate, Ferrari struggled in general, and the Red Bull drivers wished, as ever, for more horsepower, Hamilton was more mellow than ever.

“Every time we come to Suzuka, particularly over the last few years, the cars just get faster and faster, it's incredible. They don't make tracks like this anymore – there's very little room for run-off, a little touch of the grass and you're off in the wall. Suzuka has to be one of my favourite circuits, if not the favourite one, it's very cool. The first and second sectors, especially, are insane; the first section is the best rollercoaster ride that I've felt in a Formula One car. The balance was in quite a nice place, so I was just enjoying it.

“Every year I come back, there are always areas that I can improve, so I was like ‘there are two or three corners where I know that I need to kill it this year,’ and I got straight up to it. I was much better than I had ever been through those particular corners. Now I just have to stay on it, keep working; my team and I, we're working so well together in fine-tuning this car. I'm just loving driving more than ever; when you get in the car, it's just the best, it's so fast and I'm so grateful to have the opportunity to do what I do. I've just been giving thanks all day today because this is what I've always wanted to do.”

Suzuka's flowing first sector is the ultimate challenge for Hamilton (AFP/Getty)

This afternoon’s race simulations held more bad news for the red cars, which were badly blistering their supersoft-compound Pirelli tyres. The Scuderia’s aggressive decision to choose 10 sets of these and only two sets of softs for each of their drivers could hurt them badly, as the softs will be the favoured race tyre given the likelihood that the supersofts will have to be replaced after 10 to 12 of the 53 laps.

By contrast, Mercedes opted for seven sets of supersofts and four softs for their drivers, while Red Bull did likewise for Verstappen as Ricciardo went for four sets of softs and eight supersofts. That means that all of them are better able to set their cars up for race conditions, by having more sets of softs to play with in practice.

Thus far it’s clear that Ferrari have yet to regain the edge they demonstrated so clearly in Belgium in August that Hamilton admitted he barely saw which way Vettel went when he overtook his Mercedes on the opening lap and won as he pleased. Ever since, the red car has lagged behind the Silver Arrow, to the bemusement of many.

Ferrari's mid-season pace has completely deserted them (EPA)

“I just don’t get it,” former F1 racer turned tv commentator Christian Danner said. “I know that Mercedes have made some progress with their wheels and brakes and various ducting, but not to the tune of nearly a second. Ferrari have to have lost something since Spa, but I really can’t see what that is.”

Hamilton said yesterday that he believes much of his team’s recent upturn in fortune is down to the engineers working hard to achieve a better understanding of the Mercedes W09 EQ Power, rather than any dramatic upgrade.

“It’s been a surprise and we were not expecting to be as fast as we were in the last race," he said, having opened his points advantage over Vettel to 50 after completing a hat-trick of wins in Russia last weekend.

"Our car worked really well but it is difficult to know how much we have improved or they have stood still, or gone backwards. We have no idea.

Bottas could not get close to Hamilton's time on Friday (EPA)

"We had an upgrade in Spa and then we had a small upgrade in Monza and then we had a small upgrade in the last race, so it is not big steps, it is small bits. But our understanding of the car is continuing and that understanding is where we are making the biggest steps.

"All around the car feels great. Engine performance is improving, efficiency is improving, and car’s stability is improving. It’s the best it has been all year long. I couldn’t have hoped for better performance.

"There have been some real dream experiences for me – races I dreamed of having and performing at those levels. That’s what I live for. You don't always get to experience what your target is. I’m just grateful for the races I’ve had and how a lot of then have panned out."

With eight victories so far in 2018, five of them in the last six races, he is edging ever closer to a fifth world crown, but insists he is still taking it race-by-race, knowing that an engine blow-up or an accident for him could yet redress that balance in Ferrari’s favour. The signs here thus far, however, are that another Mercedes victory is on the cards on Sunday.