Ferrari's Vettel in cruise mode at Suzuka

Bengaluru, October 6: Sebastian Vettel pulled out a late flier around the Suzuka Circuit to set the pace ahead of Formula One title rival Lewis Hamilton in Friday's first practise session for the Japanese Grand Prix.

The German set a benchmark time of one minute, 29.166 seconds around 15 minutes from the end of the 90-minute session to edge out championship leader Hamilton by 0.211 seconds.

The Briton had occupied top spot on the timesheets in his Mercedes but Vettel's Ferrari was just 0.042 seconds using the slower soft tyres and went quicker once he switched to the stickier super-softs on an overcast morning with a constant threat of rain.

The German's pace, unleashed just as the rain intensified into a heavy drizzle, appears to have laid down an early marker of Ferrari's potential ahead of Sunday's race.

FP1 REPORT: Vettel on top at Suzuka as Sainz crashes out in first practice (with video) #JapaneseGP 🇯🇵 #F1 https://t.co/3NW8Tqsqri

— Formula 1 (@F1) October 6, 2017

The four-time champion is due some luck after successive setbacks in the last two races have left him 34 points behind Hamilton in the overall standings with just five of the season's 20 races remaining.

Hamilton and team-mate Valtteri Bottas, who was fifth fastest, were both running an upgraded aerodynamic package but it was not immediately clear whether the reigning champions had rediscovered their lost speed in Suzuka's cooler conditions.