Japanese Grand Prix 2024: Lewis Hamilton says Mercedes had 'best session of the year'

Lewis Hamilton said Mercedes had their "best session of the year" in Friday's practice at the Japanese Grand Prix.

The seven-time champion was fifth quickest, with team-mate George Russell fourth, both just under 0.5 seconds behind Max Verstappen of Red Bull.

The times were set in the first session, while the second was rendered irrelevant by wet conditions.

Hamilton said: "It was a really good session, the best the car has felt this year."

Mercedes expected to struggle at Suzuka because its demanding, high-speed layout layout should expose the car's limitations in high-speed corners.

Mercedes have been struggling to understand why the car produces less downforce on track than their simulations suggest it should.

Hamilton said: "It felt really positive. I was excited, because this is a circuit every driver loves to drive and the last couple of years we've had a really difficult car and balance to drive here.

"And given the difficult last few races we've had, great work has been done and we seem to have hit the ground in a sweeter spot so I haven't really made any changes."

Russell, who was 0.013secs quicker than Hamilton, said the car's performance was "a pleasant surprise".

Mercedes' difficulties so far this season prompted team principal Toto Wolff to abandon plans to miss the race, he will instead attend for the first time in three seasons.

"I had planned not to come to Japan because there's so much on back in Europe, things to do," Wolff said. "But then I felt not coming to Japan was the wrong choice. I think it's important to be with the race team also - it does me good to be close to the action.

"We are experimenting with a few things and then being part of the team really gives me energy. I hope the other way around too."

Verstappen led Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez by 0.181 seconds, with Ferrari's Carlos Sainz, winner of the last race in Australia, 0.213secs off the pace in third.

Behind the Mercedes pair were the second Ferrari of Charles Leclerc and Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso.

Sainz said: "Honestly [we are] a bit closer to the Red Bulls than I anticipated or expected, so positive signs in terms of progress made from five months ago [when F1 last raced in Suzuka] to now.

"It looks again tight with the McLarens, the Mercs. Red Bull are a step ahead but a smaller step ahead than maybe I thought, so it should be an interesting fight out there."

Both Red Bull and Aston Martin have significant aerodynamic upgrades for this race, the fourth of the season, centring on modifications to the floors of their cars.

But Verstappen said he expected the field to be closer than it was at last year's Japanese Grand Prix, when he took one of his most dominant victories in a season in which he won 19 of the 22 races.

The Dutchman, who was on pole by nearly 0.6secs last year, said of Friday's practice: "It was a good start for us. The balance wasn't too far out but it does look like everyone is a bit closer compared to last year. I don't expect gaps to be like last year."

It was another difficult day for Williams in a tricky start to the 2024 season as Logan Sargeant crashed heavily in the first session.

The American missed the last race in Australia when team-mate Alex Albon was given his car after a major accident in Friday practice because Williams had no spare chassis.

Sargeant, driving the repaired chassis this weekend at Suzuka, lost control at the high-speed Dunlop corner and did extensive damage to the front suspension, gearbox and nose, although the chassis was not damaged, much to the team's relief.

Sargeant went a little wide on his first lap through the long left-hander that ends Suzuka's famous Esses section when trying for his first time on the soft tyres midway through the session.

But he ran on to the kerb and then got sucked into the gravel, spinning and hitting the barriers with a sizeable impact.

Team principal James Vowles described the crash as "frustrating", saying Sargeant ran wide because he "didn't quite realise where he was with where the grass was on the outside and put a wheel on the grass".

"What you saw here wasn't a driver making a mistake because they were pushing to the limit," Vowles said. "It's a very different type of mistake, a frustrating one by all accounts, because it wasn't on the limit of what the car could do.

"There was far more turning potential in there. He just didn't know where the car was on track relative to where he expected it to be anyway."

Williams did not manage to repair the car in time for Sargeant to run in second practice - no great loss in the circumstances - but he will be able to take part in the rest of the weekend.

Intermittent light rain at Suzuka in the afternoon meant the track was too wet for dry-weather tyres and too dry for wets and only three drivers set lap times.

And with teams restricted to five sets of intermediate tyres and two of full wets for the whole weekend, and a mixed weather forecast for qualifying and race, they were reluctant to use them up in practice.

McLaren's Oscar Piastri topped the second session from Hamilton. They, along with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, were the only drivers to set a flying lap on slick tyres as the track dried slightly at the end of the session.

Formula 2 driver Ayumu Iwasa was 16th fastest in the first session for RB on a run-out at his home event in Daniel Ricciardo's car as part of the driver development programme for Red Bull. Iwasa's best lap time put him just under a second slower than RB's Yuki Tsunoda.