Vettel over Hamilton in opening Japanese GP practice

With rain forecast for the afternoon, teams wasted no time getting up to speed – leading to several changes at the top as Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull once again proved incredibly evenly matched.

Sainz Jr climbs from his wrecked car

Vettel eventually settled matters in the Scuderia's favor with a late supersoft-flyer of 1m 29.166s – just over two tenths quicker than Hamilton's best. Ricciardo and Kimi Raikkonen were fractions further down the road, meaning the top four drivers – comprising three teams – were all covered by less than half a second.

Vettel's best time came shortly after Sainz violently hit the barriers exiting the Turn 11 hairpin.

The Spaniard inadvertently dropped a rear wheel on the dirt exiting the left-hander, flicking his Toro Rosso sideways and sending it spearing into the inside tire wall.

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