Valtteri Bottas was quickest Friday in practice before the Japanese Grand Prix locked down ahead of an approaching super typhoon, finishing a tenth of a second ahead of teammate and world championship leader Lewis Hamilton.
The Mercedes pair, benefiting in Japan from an aerodynamic upgrade package to their W10 cars, were comfortably ahead of the third-fastest Red Bull of Max Verstappen in the second session of the condensed racing weekend at Suzuka.
"It was a very positive day," said Bottas.
"We tried the new bits with the car. It felt good since the beginning."
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"I'm not worried about doing qualifying and the race on Sunday as it won't affect my approach. We can't change the weather and it's out of our control, so now we just have to see what happens on Sunday."