- Valtteri Bottas was just 0.014 seconds faster than Lewis Hamilton in FP3
- But the Finn heavily damaged Mercedes after crashing into barrier at Suzuka
- Hamilton goes into Japanese Grand Prix qualifying hot favourite to land pole
- Sebastian Vettel third fastest for Ferrari, who look well off Mercedes pace
- READ: More F1 news, features and points tables
Valtteri Bottas set the pace in final practice ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix despite missing half of the session following a crash that heavily damaged his Mercedes.
The Finn was narrowly faster than team-mate Lewis Hamilton by just 0.014 seconds but made a mistake by running wide at Spoon curve before losing control and heavily damaging the right side of his Mercedes.
Mercedes totally dominated the session, running three tenths of a second faster than nearest rival Sebastian Vettel despite being on the harder soft compound tyre at Suzuka.
Valtteri Bottas crashed into the barrier after making a mistake by running wide of the track
The Finn’s brush with the barrier saw his practice session come to an early end at Suzuka
Bottas’s crash came courtesy of running wide at Spoon curve halfway through the session
A result of the Mercedes driver running wide saw artificial grass on the corner exit raised
After Bottas limped back to the pits, the red flag was brought out to briefly stop the session
Lewis Hamilton will be confident of landing pole position at Suzuka despite going only second fastest for Mercedes, as he poses with a fan before Saturday’s final practice session
Vettel headed into the weekend 34 points behind Hamilton in the championship, and narrowly avoided a costly crash at the second Degner corner after running wide onto the gravel.
But the sister Ferrari driven by Kimi Raikkonen made the same mistake and suffered the misfortune of crashing into the barrier to bring out the red flags and his session to an early end.
Malaysian Grand Prix winner Max Verstappen was the fastest of the Red Bull duo after posting the fourth fastest time, with team-mate Daniel Ricciardo only a tenth down on the Dutchman in fifth.
Honda were given a small boost on their home circuit after Fernando Alonso set the eight fastest time for McLaren, while Britain’s Jolyon Palmer rounded off the top 10 for Renault.
Hamilton won at Suzuka in 2014 and 2015 and was second to former Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg last year.
Another win would move Hamilton a step closer to a third F1 title in four years with Mercedes and his fourth overall.
Sebastian Vettel drives past the stricken car of Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen
Raikkoen ran wide at the second Degner corner to bring an early end to his session
Raikkonen’s Ferrari is lifted off the Suzuka circuit during the red flag delay in third practice
The Finn observes his Ferrari as walks over tyre barriers on his way back to the pit-lane
Vettel also ran wide at Degner in the session but avoided a crash before going third fastest