Japanese GP: Rosberg fastest as Hamilton crashes

Nico Rosberg

Nico Rosberg topped final practice for the Japanese Grand Prix ahead of qualifying later today, while his Mercedes teammate, Lewis Hamilton, crashed.

The German completed his qualifying simulation on medium rubber first, improving by 1.3s to take top spot.

Then, Hamilton started his flying lap, but carried too much speed into Turn 1, ran wide onto the asphalt runoff and went head on into the tire barrier.

The front-left corner of his Mercedes was damaged in the crash but although Hamilton did not set a time on the faster tire, his pace on the hard Pirellis in his superior Mercedes was still good enough to be second fastest, albeit one second down on Rosberg.

Fernando Alonso was best-of-the-rest in third place, 1.211s off the pace.

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