It may have been a day of grey skies and drizzle in Suzuka but for Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes there was at last a ray of sunshine in what has been the very gloomiest of seasons.

With Hamilton sat on a paltry eight points after the first three races of the 2024 season and his team already trailing Red Bull by 71 points in the constructors’ standings after a double DNF two weeks ago in Australia, hopes were not especially high for the Silver Arrows heading to Japan.

The test that this famous circuit brings with its iconic, high-speed corners does not suit their machine. The cynics out there may argue it would be hard to find a circuit that does currently.

Though Hamilton has won five times around Suzuka – a record only bettered by the great Michael Schumacher – there is only so much even one of the finest drivers of this generation can extract from a car that he admitted ‘messes with the mind’ just a fortnight ago.

Hamilton has cut a frustrated and somewhat bewildered figure at times this season. He has looked like someone for whom a fresh start, which he has with Ferrari from next season, can’t come soon enough.

Lewis Hamilton revealed he was pleased with his car’s performance in Practice One in Suzuka

The 39-year-old has endured a difficult start to what will be his final campaign with Mercedes

Hamilton said the Mercedes felt the best it has all season in the first practice session in Japan

But finally there was a day to lift the spirits and inspire some hope that this won’t be a tiresome swansong for the Brit after all.

‘It was a really good session, the best the car has felt this year,’ said the 39-year-old, who was fifth quickest on Friday with both he and team-mate George Russell, who was fourth, just under half-a-second behind pacesetter Max Verstappen.

‘It felt really positive. I was excited, because this is a circuit every driver loves to drive and the last couple of years we’ve had a really difficult car and balance to drive here.

‘And given the difficult last few races we’ve had, great work has been done and we seem to have hit the ground in a sweeter spot so I haven’t really made any changes.’

The wet weather rendered Friday’s second practice session all but useless with the lack of laps run making it nigh-on impossible to assess whether the signs are as ominous as they look at a glance for the rest of the field after Verstappen topped the timesheets.

Meanwhile Max Verstappen topped the practice standings as he looks to secure victory on Sunday

It is fair to say, though, that his rivals will likely be praying for a reliability issue similar to the one that prematurely ended his race in Melbourne to rear its head once again if they are to stand any chance of muscling the Dutchman off the top step of the podium come Sunday.

But the man himself isn’t quite so sure, despite winning last year’s Japanese Grand Prix by 19 seconds.

Verstappen, who is running significant aerodynamic upgrades on his car for the first time this weekend, said: ‘It was a good start for us. The balance wasn’t too far out but it does look like everyone is a bit closer compared to last year. I don’t expect gaps to be like last year.’