Formula One news

Hamilton: This track is awesome!

Lewis Hamilton was extremely impressed after his first run at Suzuka on Friday. The Briton's first words to his mechanics were clear; "This track is awesome!" said the World Champion as he was wheeled back into the garage after his first run in practice.

Starting on Wets and completing a single run (1:46.974 best), Hamilton found the conditions not wet enough to continue and switched to the Intermediate tyre. He conducted an exploratory run (three laps/1:42.642) before sitting out much of the session in the hope of driving on a dry line. However, the dampness remained and Lewis ran a final three-lap stint (1:41.443s) to finish the morning session in sixth position.

In the afternoon, he left his running until as late as possible, completing just three flying laps in the very wet conditions. His best time of 1:47.983 was fourth fastest.

"This is the best track I've ever driven," the McLaren driver said afterwards. "It's something very special for me and I had a great time today, even though it was wet. We didn't do much running - we weren't supposed to be running this afternoon, but I couldn't help it; I just had to go out and have a little bit of fun!

"I've heard it's going to be dry for the race; I'm just looking forward to getting out there in the dry and seeing how fast you can push around here."

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