By Finley Nelson
The F1 grid returned to the track on Friday afternoon at Suzuka for Free Practice 2, in which McLaren’s Oscar Piastri topped the timing sheets. The Australian managed a 1:30.133 on the faster soft tyres, giving the driver who is yet to start a full distance race a much more positive start to the weekend.
Piastri was closely followed by the Mercedes duo of Antonelli and Russell who finished the session in second and third following two favourable practice hours. Chinese GP winner Antonelli was closest to the Australian with a 1:30.225 but was unable to match his time although the team are still widely seen as the favourites for qualifying tomorrow.
It was an uninterrupted session, but some drivers did face reliability issues. Reigning World Champion Lando Norris spent the first half an hour in the garage due to a hydraulic issue but was able to get some running in and finish the session in fourth, five tenths behind his teammate.
Gabriel Bortoleto and Sergio Perez also faced limited track time due to issues, which saw them end the session in P16 and P20 respectively. However, rookie Arvid Lindblad was unable to run any laps during the session as he was forced to remain in the garage due to a gearbox issue.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton followed Norris to complete FP2 in P5 and P6, seven tenths behind Piastri. Hamilton has especially been vocal on the radio to his team today about having no confidence in his car, which leaves them with something to fix before tomorrow’s final practice session.
With McLaren looking to be in the fight this weekend, both Mercedes and Ferrari may have an even tougher fight on their hands to keep their top two status which they have kept very comfortably so far.
FP2 was a much better session for Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg in P7 and Williams’ Alex Albon, who ended the session in P8 following his collision with Sergio Perez at the end of FP1 earlier in the day. Both teams will be looking to build on their points totals and gain ground in the midfield battle this weekend.
Haas’ Oliver Bearman finished P9 just ahead of Max Verstappen to conclude the top 10. Red Bull have brought an upgrade package to this race, although their struggles from the first two rounds have continued to Suzuka. The Dutchman ended up P10 and just over 1.3 seconds behind Oscar Piastri, showing work needs to be done for the team who were most successful in the ground effect era.
Bearman’s teammate Esteban Ocon finished just outside the top 10 in P11 followed by the lone Racing Bulls of Liam Lawson in P12 with both teams sporting unique liveries for the Japanese GP weekend, featuring a collaboration with Godzilla for the team currently fourth in the championship.
The other Williams of Carlos Sainz ended the session in P13 ahead of Pierre Gasly and Isack Hadjar, who finished P14 and P15 respectively. Gabriel Bortoleto managed 10 laps during his limited running at the end of the session to finish P16, just in-front of Pierre Gasly’s teammate Franco Colapinto in P17.
Cadillac and Aston Martin look to be fighting for the final four spots again following a tough start to the season for the Silverstone based team and the American team only just getting started with their journey in Formula 1. Valtteri Bottas was the best of them in P18, 2.5 seconds behind Piastri.
New father Fernando Alonso made his track debut for the weekend after missing FP1 due to Jak Crawford being in the car. He separated the two Cadillacs by finishing P19 and ahead of Sergio Perez in P20 who saw limited running due to reliability issues and his earlier collision with Alex Albon.
Lance Stroll finished last of the runners in P21 with Arvid Lindblad not completing a lap. The Canadian’s lap was 3.8 seconds slower than the McLaren’s, putting the team massively on the back foot heading into tomorrow’s sessions.
Action resumes on track tomorrow morning at 2:30am GMT with Free Practice 3, where the teams will be looking to gather more data and improve their setups before heading into qualifying a few hours later at 6am GMT.
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