Piastri was the fastest in the second practice session
The second part of the free races
Sunny. Dry. Air +14...13C, highway +34...31C
On Friday, it was warm in Suzuka like spring, and the asphalt warmed up to +30C under a cloudless sky. The audience almost completely filled the stands, sakura blossomed – the perfect spring in Suzuka.
The teams planned to focus on working with the tires, including the Hard compound, which has not yet been used this year, and may play an important role on Sunday, but no one managed to complete a long series of laps due to four red flag stops in the session.
The session started with a crash. Young Jack Duane, who missed the first practice session, in which he was replaced by Japanese test driver Rio Hirakawa, crashed his car into a barrier in the first corner. Jack got out of the car on his own, but he felt unwell and left the scene of the accident under the arms of doctors who took him to a medical center.
When braking before turning, the car spun sharply and was thrown into the barrier at high speed. Everything happened instantly, the impact was strong. The engineer could not answer Duane's question about the cause of the accident, but it was obvious that the racer had nothing to do with it – something happened to the car and led to an instant loss of clutch.
It took time to evacuate the car and repair the barriers, and the green light at the exit from the pit lane turned on only after 21 minutes. It won't be easy for Alpine mechanics to restore Duane's car.
Less than a minute later, the red flags reappeared. Before the eighth turn, Alonso touched the grass, the car flew out and got stuck in the gravel. The Spaniard left the scene of the accident on foot, and the car was evacuated.
After a pause, the riders went to Soft with the settings for qualifying. With the new asphalt, the Japanese track has become faster, so last year's pole time fell in the second practice session, but the absolute record of 1:27.064 set by Vettel in 2019 is still a second away.
A few minutes later, the red flags appeared for the third time – due to sparks from passing cars, the grass caught fire at the seventh turn. Stewards with fire extinguishers arrived quickly. When the exit from the pit lane was opened once again, there were seven minutes left until the end of the session.
In the last seconds, the grass caught fire in another place. The session was stopped for the fourth time, and then time ran out.
Oscar Piastri showed the best time, completing a lap in 1:28.114 and ahead of his McLaren team-mate Lando Norris.
The second part of the free races
Pilot
The Time Team
Difference
Circles
1. About.Piastri
McLaren
1:28.114
-
12
2. L.Norris
McLaren
1:28.163
+0.049
11
3 . A.Hajjar
Racing Bulls
1:28.518
+0.404
11
4 . L. Hamilton
Ferrari
1:28.544
+0.430
13
5 . L.Lawson
Racing Bulls
1:28.559
+0.445
12
6 . d.Russell
Mercedes
1:28.567
+0.453
12
7 . Sh.Leclair
Ferrari
1:28.586
+0.472
13
8 . M.Verstappen
Red Bull
1:28.670
+0.556
9
9 . P.Gasli
Alpine
1:28.757
+0.643
12
10. K.Sainz
Williams
1:28.832
+0.718
9
11. A.Elbon
Williams
1:29.023
+0.909
10
12. N. Hulkenberg
Sauber
1:29.062
+0.948
11
13. The city of Bortoleto
Sauber
1:29.335
+1.221
12
14. E.Okon
Haas
1:29.507
+1.393
12
15. O. Berman
Haas
1:29.654
+1.540
9
16. K.Antonelli
Mercedes
1:29.733
+1.619
12
17. F.Alonso
Aston Martin
1:29.978
+1.864
5
18. Yu.Tsunoda
Red Bull
1:30.625
+2.511
11
19. L. Stroll
Aston Martin
1:30.845
+2.731
12
20. D.Duane
Alpine
1:31.659
+3.545
4
The first part of the free races
Sunny. Dry. Air +14C, highway +35C
Before Japan, Red Bull changed drivers – Yuki Tsunoda was transferred to the main team, where he became Max Verstappen's team-mate, and Liam Lawson was returned to Racing Bulls. The stands, which were already filled on Friday, warmly supported the Japanese racer, who was already noticeably nervous, although he had claimed otherwise the day before.
A temporary replacement took place at Alpine – as part of the mandatory tests for young riders for the teams, another Japanese, reserve and test driver Rio Hirakawa, got behind the wheel of debutant Jack Duane's car.
New asphalt was laid on most of the track, and for the first time in the season, the riders worked with three of the toughest tire compositions and did not sit in the pits.
Berman returned to the pits after the first lap and handed the car over to the mechanics, but after a pause he drove out again. All three trains were used from the first minutes on short and medium laps. The track has become faster, and already in the first practice session, the riders rode at the pace of last year's qualifying.
The session was quiet, but it was not without minor problems. Norris made mistakes a couple of times, but retained control of the car. Sainz drove past the Williams pits, forgetting that they were at the very beginning of the pit lane, and went on the second lap of the return. Albon and Antonelli drove into gravel after locking the tires in the hairpin, but continued driving.
Lando Norris led the record, completing the best lap in 1:28.549. George Russell drove the most laps.
The first part of the free races
Pilot
The Time Team
Difference
Circles
1. L.Norris
McLaren
1:28.549
-
2
2. D.Russell
Mercedes
1:28.712
+0.163
29
3 . S. Leclerc
Ferrari
1:28.965
+0.416
26
4. L. Hamilton
Ferrari
1:29.051
+0.502
25
5 . M.Verstappen
Red Bull
1:29.065
+0.516
23
6 . Yu.Tsunoda
Red Bull
1:29.172
+0.623
25
7. F.Alonso
Aston Martin
1:29.222
+0.673
25
8. A.Hajjar
Racing Bulls
1:29.225
+0.676
28
9 . K.Antonelli
Mercedes
1:29.284
+0.735
28
10. K.Sainz
Williams
1:29.333
+0.784
28
11. A.Elbon
Williams
1:29.392
+0.843
25
12. R.Hirakawa
Alpine
1:29.394
+0.845
24
13. L. Lawson
Racing Bulls
1:29.536
+0.987
28
14. P.Gasli
Alpine
1:29.547
+0.998
23
15. O.Piastri
McLaren
1:29.708
+1.159
25
16. L.Stroll
Aston Martin
1:29.758
+1.209
25
17. N. Hulkenberg
Sauber
1:30.023
+1.474
21
18. O. Berman
Haas
1:30.077
+1.528
17
19. E.Okon
Haas
1:30.123
+1.574
21
20. The city of Bortoleto
Sauber
1:30.147
+1.598
26
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