Hamilton, Mercedes continue to dominate in Japan FP2

Lewis Hamilton continued to dominate proceedings at Suzuka in second practice for the Japanese Grand Prix on Friday, heading up a one-two finish for Mercedes as well as finishing eight-tenths of a second clear of Formula 1 title rival Sebastian Vettel.

Championship leader Hamilton made an impressive start to the Suzuka race weekend by topping FP1 for Mercedes on Friday morning, but managed to find yet more time en route to P1 once again in second practice, leading home teammate Valtteri Bottas.

Hamilton recorded a fastest lap time of 1m28.217s to finish four-tenths of a second clear of Bottas, with Mercedes once again proving to be out of reach for the rival Ferrari team.

Vettel's fastest time saw him finish eight-tenths of a second down on Hamilton's effort come the end of the session. The Ferrari driver had also failed to beat Hamilton's best lap on Softs when he ran on the faster Supersoft compound, providing a concerning picture for the German heading into the remainder of the race weekend.

Vettel was followed in fourth place by Red Bull's Max Verstappen, with their respective teammates Kimi Raikkonen and Daniel Ricciardo taking fifth and sixth place respectively.

Esteban Ocon managed to lead the midfield fight for Force India, taking seventh ahead of Haas driver Romain Grosjean, while Marcus Ericsson hit the top 10 for the second session in a row as he finished ninth.

Brendon Hartley grabbed P10 for Toro Rosso as he impressed with the updated Spec 3 Honda engine, but the New Zealander had a brief scare when he almost ran too hard into his front jackman when coming in to pit at the end of the session.

Hartley was left to fly the flag alone for Toro Rosso in much of FP2 after teammate Pierre Gasly suffered a fuel cell issue, limiting him to just XX laps through the session. Gasly was able to take P13 in the final standings.