Cool Hamilton bids to reign in Japan

LEWIS HAMILTON admits he is tempted to perform a rain dance ahead of today’s qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix as he looks to gain any edge he can over Felipe Massa in the battle for the World Championship.

The McLaren driver enjoyed a solid workout on the Fuji Speedway circuit yesterday, topping the timesheet for the first practice session while finishing third fastest in the afternoon.

On both occasions he had the edge over Massa as the Ferrari driver was second and fourth in the respective sessions. The circuit was dry throughout, with the mostly clear skies becoming a little more overcast by the afternoon before a few spots of rain fell briefly late in the day.

Hamilton thrived in the wet weather here last year to secure victory and when asked how he will gain an edge over Massa he joked: “I will probably do a rain dance. If there is rain we may have a bigger gap but otherwise it is going to be very close.

“In practice you don’t really know what is going on but in qualifying it will be another story so we will be possibly battling a lot closer.

“I think today showed that we are both very competitive and that our cars and teams are doing a great job.

“It is now down to us to do a good job on the circuit.”

Massa and Hamilton were overshadowed in the afternoon session as Toyota’s Timo Glock finished top of the pile with a time of one minute 18.383 seconds while Singapore Grand Prix winner Fernando Alonso was second fastest.

However, Hamilton was pleased with his performance in the two sessions and is confident about his chances this weekend.

“Fuji is a place I really enjoy,” added the 23-year-old. “It is not the easiest of tracks because it requires a good set-up to get the best out of the car.

“We were immediately on the pace and found a very good balance straight away. In the afternoon I did a promising longer run with no major problems and I feel confident about our pace for the rest of the weekend.”