by Joé Weimerskirch, reporter

Lewis Hamilton has dominated the practice sessions of the Japanese Grand Prix after narrowly avoiding a crash in first practice. 

In Friday practice, Hamilton was able to beat his team mate Valtteri Bottas by 0.461secs and his title rival Sebastian Vettel by 0.833 seconds. 

Max Verstappen is leading the best of the rest in fourth place, ahead of Ferrari Driver Kimi Raikkonen. The top ten were completed by Daniel Ricciardo, Esteban Ocon, Romain Grosjean, Marcus Ericsson and Brendon Hartley. 

Hamilton and French driver Pierre Gasly both had to see the stewards after nearly crashing in the first practice session. The Torro Rosso driver was slowing down on the racing line as Hamilton had to take the escape road to avoid a huge crash. 

After controversially winning the Russian Grand Prix due to team orders last Sunday, Lewis Hamilton seems to be unbeatable in Japan.  

It also looks good for the British racer in the title race, who is fifty points ahead of rival Vettel. 

Hamilton said over the radio: “This track is awesome, I’m having the best day.”  

He added: “I’m just loving driving more than ever; when you get in the car, it’s just the best.” 

Even if Vettel would win all of the five races left on the F1 calendar 2018, it would be enough for Hamilton to become second or third in every race. But with the form that Mercedes showed in the first and second practice sessions, it seems unlikely that Vettel can start a comeback in Japan. 

Formula1 blogger Andrew Christopher said: “Lewis has been exceptional in every race this season, he hasn’t committed any mistakes that Vettel found himself. And this was all with a less competitive package.” 

He added: “His fifty-point lead is representative of just that and he deserves to win the title.”