Sepang: World champion Lewis Hamilton was unbeatable even in a misfiring car as he topped practice at the Malaysian Grand Prix despite mechanical problems yesterday.

Lewis Hamilton

The Mercedes man spent much of his time in the garage and departed first practice on a moped, but he still managed to set the day’s quickest time by nearly four-tenths of a second.

The performance at a sun-drenched Sepang underlined the superiority Hamilton showed in winning the season-opener in Australia as he sets out to secure a third world title. “It was an amazing job by the guys to get me back out this afternoon — particularly here in such tough conditions, so I’m very grateful to them,” he said.

Hamilton managed just four laps of the 90-minute first practice before he was told to halt his Mercedes W06 and hitched a lift back to the pits on the back of a moped.