MOTOR RACING-Hamilton encouraged after the “best” practice session for the year

SUZUKA, Japan, CMC – Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton hailed the first practice session on Friday for the Japanese Formula 1 Grand Prix the best for the year.

The 39-year-old British race car driver, whose heritage is Grenadian, has endured a miserable start to the season in the Silver Arrows. Still, the W15 worked well in the excellent conditions at the Suzuka circuit.

Hamilton finished fifth on the timesheets, one place behind teammate and fellow Briton George Russell. Still, they were both restricted in the second practice session, which was severely affected by adverse weather conditions.

“It was a great session,” Hamilton said. “It was an excellent session for us. It was the best session we’ve had this year, the best the car has felt this year so far, so it felt really positive, and I was really excited.”

Hamilton and Russell hope to lead a Mercedes recovery in the fourth round of the championship after they have both been forced to retire from racing at the Australia Grand Prix.

“This is a circuit that every driver loves to drive,” Hamilton said. “In the last couple of years, we’ve had a tricky balance, a tough car, and a difficult balance to drive here.

“And given the difficult last few races we’ve had, great work’s been done this past week, and we just seem to have hit the ground a bit more in a sweeter spot, so I haven’t made any changes since.”

Hamilton has won five times around Suzuka – a record only bettered by retired champion driver Michael Schumacher of Germany – and urged the Mercedes team to keep up the excellent work for the rest of the weekend.

“It’s hard to know [how things look],” he said. I think we’ve got a better platform or baseline to start from, so as long as we don’t make too many changes and [mess] it up, I think we should probably just stay where we are.

“It’s a shame we didn’t get that [FP2] session. They have changed the tire rule, so no one goes out and runs on the intermediate, which doesn’t make sense, but there you go.”

Hamilton is 10th on eight points in the drivers’ standings – 43 behind leader and three-time defending champion Max Verstappen of the Netherlands. Meanwhile, Mercedes is fourth on 26 points in the constructors’ standings – 71 behind leaders and reigning champions Red Bull Racing.