Mercedes returned to the top of the timesheets with Nico Rosberg setting the fastest time in final practice ahead of qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka.
The World Champion team appeared to demonstrate that Singapore was a singular setup issue causing their dismal pace, but Nico Rosberg ended speculation from last weekend by being fastest in the final practice with a 1m33.995s lap. The German’s teammate Lewis Hamilton was second quickest and just over two tenths slower which was lost all in the first sector of the lap. Most teams were running varied strategies to understand their potential race pace on both the medium and hard tyres so the final order may not have been exactly representative of what will be seen in qualifying.
At the beginning of the session, Daniel Ricciardo followed his strong Singapore result by being initially quickest on both the hard and medium tyres. He was comfortably quicker than his teammate Daniil Kyvat, who struggled through the challenging Degner curves and twice ran wide into the second right-hander. The Williams and Toro Rosso drivers were also running well in the top six in the early part of the session.
Singapore winner Sebastian Vettel was only eighth quickest as Mercedes appeared to return to usual timesheet topping form at Suzuka. Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen was a couple of tenths quicker in sixth. Jenson Button was in the top dozen with a solid qualifying simulation until car problems ended his session early with still 15 minutes remaining of the session.
Elsewhere, the Force India drivers appeared to be struggling for grip in the final practice session with Hulkenberg and Perez both running wide at Degner and Spoon curves respectively. Will Stevens lapped just two-tenths quicker than rookie teammate Alexander Rossi in the Manor Marussia cars.
