Suzuka : Nico Rosberg gave his wounded team-mate Lewis Hamilton plenty to think about by topping the timesheets in both practice sessions Friday for this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix.
The German, who has a 23-point championship lead over Hamilton with five races left this year, pipped the triple world champion by two tenths in the morning sunshine and just 0.072sec under cloudy skies in the afternoon.
Rosberg struck a psychological blow in the Formula One title run-in as he chases his fourth win in five races, despite complaining of “monster understeer” in the early jousting between the fierce Mercedes rivals.
“It’s been a case of finding my way today,” said Rosberg. “It looks like we’re ahead of the Ferraris but it remains to be seen as to where we are compared to the Red Bulls.”
Hamilton has had a tumultuous few days after a blown engine robbed the Briton of victory last weekend. After controversially hinting that his Malaysia heartbreak was a result of sabotage from within the Mercedes garage, Hamilton barked over the radio.
