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Lewis Hamilton hopeful of Japanese GP improvement after Mercedes’ ‘best session’ of the year
Lewis Hamilton and George Russell hailed their “best session” of the year so far in Suzuka yesterday but warned Mercedes fans “not to expect too much” ahead of qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix on Saturday.
The British duo have endured a torrid 2024 season so far, with the W15 proving to be just as troublesome as its predecessors the W13 and the W14. Most worryingly, after a big reboot over the winter, intended to give the team a more stable platform, the car has lurched wildly in terms of its performance from one session to the next.
That maddening inconsistency, which stems from the failure to replicate on track what the team is seeing in the wind tunnel and in the simulator back at Brackley, explains why the two drivers are remaining so cautious ahead of qualifying, which takes place at 6am UK time on Saturday morning.
But Hamilton, especially, could not resist getting just a little bit excited after going fifth quickest in first practice at the fast and flowing Suzuka circuit in Japan, just behind his teammate Russell. Both Mercedes drivers were within half a second of Max Verstappen’s Red Bull. The second session was a washout, with the times completely irrelevant.
“It was the best session for us so far this year and the best the car has felt,” Hamilton reported afterwards. “I felt very positive and excited heading into FP2 as this is a circuit that every driver loves to drive. It was a shame not to get much running in, therefore.”
Given they retired from ninth and seventh places respectively at the last race in Melbourne two weeks ago, it represented progression of sorts. Even if there, as in Japan, Mercedes showed speed in practice before failing to perform when it really mattered.
Mercedes have not brought any upgrades to Japan in terms of parts. But Hamilton – whose results of seventh, ninth and DNF make this, statistically speaking at least, his worst ever start to a Formula One season – added that he hoped the team could build on their strong Friday.
“In the last two years here, we’ve struggled with a car that has had an inconsistent balance and has been difficult to drive. The team has done a lot of great work since Australia, and we seemed to hit the ground running today. The car was definitely in a sweeter spot. We’ve got a better baseline to start from this weekend and hopefully we can build on that.”
Russell noted that the W15 has shown a tendency thus far to perform better in cooler conditions, with the air temperature expected to rise slightly for qualifying. “So that is a note of caution,” Russell said. But the 26-year-old added that their focus in Japan had been to “make the car more consistent in variable conditions” so perhaps they will be better equipped to cope with a slight temperature rise.
The stakes are sufficiently high for Mercedes that team principal Toto Wolff abandoned his plan to work remotely at this race, as he has for the last few years. Wolff said it was only right that he turned up in person when the team was experiencing a tough time.
“I think it’s important to be with the race team...it does me good also, to be close to the action,” he explained.
Mercedes considering Hamilton replacement options
Wolff is also sizing up potential replacements for Ferrari-bound Hamilton, of course. The Austrian was asked on Friday about the possibility of bringing four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel out of retirement, a possibility the German raised himself earlier this week. Wolff said he would “never discount” a move for Vettel.
But the smart money – assuming Mercedes cannot poach Verstappen, who remains Wolff’s absolute first choice – is on F2 starlet Kimi Antonelli.
Wolff has hinted he would rather wait to see whether the Italian has what it takes than rush into a marriage of convenience, which could rule out a move for someone like Carlos Sainz, who is making way for Hamilton at Maranello, as the Spaniard is likely to want to secure his future sooner than Mercedes will want to make a decision. Fernando Alonso likewise could also be ruled out on those grounds if he is prepared to make Aston Martin really sweat over a renewal.
There remains the possibility that a Red Bull seat opens up, of course, although it feels increasingly as if Sergio Perez will secure a renewal if he can finish consistently second fastest behind Verstappen.
“The driver market is very dynamic,” Wolff said. “Some of the really good guys are about to sign for some of the other teams. We want to continue to have this discussion and keep the options open, but at that stage I think it’s much too early for us to commit to a driver, whether very young or very experienced – I don’t want to say old! The next few months will give us more clues.”
Japanese Grand Prix, second practice: as it happened
Limited practice running is often a good thing
I’m not sure it will make any difference to the advantage Red Bull have at the front, particularly Max Verstappen, but it may help shake up the already tight midfield. We will find out when we get to qualifying tomorrow. As I said earlier, there is only a small chance of rain here for the rest of the weekend.
FP2 - Into the final two minutes
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri on the soft tyres has just gone fastest by 1.841sec over home hero Yuki Tsunoda. The Ferraris and Norris are also out on the softs. Piastri is about to improve again and he does and is now four seconds faster than Tsunoda. Hamilton also out on softs as the track gets dry enough for slick tyres.
FP2 - Haas cars on the soft tyres and on track
Magnussen says he’s coming straight back in again, though. That makes it nine cars who have run this session which has been a bit of a waste of time for everyone. At least Logan Sargeant will not be too disadvantaged by missing the session. Albon says the track is ready for slicks...
FP2 - Some interesting news at RB
Daniel Ricciardo will have a new chassis for the weekend. That is not because of any damage, though. Asking for a new chassis is normally the sign of a driver who is struggling and they don’t know why, with this the last option to try. RB say that this is not the case with Ricciardo, however.
At the current rate I would be very surprised if he sees out the end of the season. Plenty of time to turn it around, though his chances of a Red Bull seat look to have gone.
FP2 - This will be an interesting weekend for most teams
It will be a good barometer of progress. It was around six months ago that we last raced here with the 2023-spec cars so it is a useful guide for how much this year’s cars have improved both absolutely and - more importantly - relatively. The most interesting teams to watch will be McLaren (double podium last year) and Mercedes (just generally in a mess and this track could expose their weaknesses). Ferrari will also be ones to watch given their improvement from the end of last year.
Not much interesting data from this practice session, mind you.
FP2 - What about Vettel to Mercedes?
I think we should take what Vettel says with an enormous pinch of salt. In any case he said he was “talking” to Toto Wolff, not that he was having talks over a contract. I’ve talked to Toto Wolff too but it doesn’t mean I’m under consideration for a drive next year. It would be, at best, a very strange choice should they decide to put Vettel in that car alongside Russell. It’s not like he ended his time in F1 with his best years. He did have a half-decent finish to 2022, though, that said. But that was a long time ago now.
FP2 - 55 minutes remain
Yep, still no cars out. So perhaps in the meantime read this news story: Lewis Hamilton: Sebastian Vettel would be ‘amazing option’ to replace me at Mercedes.
GREEN LIGHT: FP2 begins
And, obviously, there are no cars waiting patiently at the end of the pit lane. I’m afraid that may well be the case for a little while. That said, it is not especially wet out there. The problem is that as long as the cars stay out it it will remain damp for a while. It has stopped raining, though, so hopefully not too much longer.
Constructor standings
Again, four points the difference between first and second here and the same goes for what I said below about the drivers’ standings. Still, I think Ferrari will be able to push Red Bull more than runners-up Mercedes did last year, going by what we have seen in 2024. That said, Mercedes did not really push Red Bull at all...
FP1 report: Verstappen fastest as Sargeant crashes
World champion Max Verstappen topped the timesheets for Red Bull in the first free practice session for the Japanese Grand Prix on Friday as Logan Sargeant deepened the woes of the Williams team by slamming his car into a trackside tyre wall.
Verstappen, looking to get back to winning ways this weekend after his first retirement since 2022 in Australia two weeks ago, clocked one minute, 30.056 seconds when the session resumed after a red-flag stoppage for Sargeant’s shunt.
Sergio Perez was second fastest, 0.181 seconds behind his Red Bull team-mate, with Carlos Sainz, the winner last time out in Melbourne, 0.213 off the pace in third place for Ferrari.
Sargeant was unable to race in Melbourne two weeks ago after his more experienced team-mate Alex Albon crashed his car in practice.
Williams patched up the car but arrived in Japan with no spare chassis so Sargeant could miss out again if the team mechanics are unable to fix it in time for Sunday’s race.
“Sorry,” the American said on the team radio after spinning off at a corner, before adding: “I’m okay.”
Verstappen was unable to get out of the garage for the first 15 minutes as his mechanics fixed a broken part on his car but quickly showed his pace on hard tyres in dry conditions once he did.
Lewis Hamilton knocked him off top spot with what turned out to be his best time (1:30.543) in his Mercedes just before the red flag.
Ferrari showed some of the pace that took them to a 1-2 in Melbourne but Sainz was unable to match the Red Bulls while his team mate Charles Leclerc was sixth fastest, half a second off the pace, behind the Mercedes of George Russell and Hamilton.
The cars return to the track for the second free practice later on Friday, which begins at 7am BST.
Reuters