Japanese Grand Prix – Free Practice 2: Max Verstappen crushes hopes once again, red flag at the end of the session

A good portion of the grid wasted no time in heating up their tires during Free Practice 2 in Suzuka. Only Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez stayed in the garage. Remember that the Dutchman set the fastest time in Free Practice 1. Pierre Gasly seems to be in a joking mood, playfully saying “konichiwa” over the team radio.

The early times come with Carlos Sainz and then Alex Albon setting the initial pace. Albon’s time of 1:33.482 is over a second slower than the FP1 pace while running on the test tyre, just like Valtteri Bottas, who is the fastest in this first batch with a time of 1:33.163.

Because yes, as was the case in FP1, it is not just the usual three dry compounds that are being used this morning: a test tire from Pirelli is accompanying them. It is a revised medium option that will not be available for the rest of the weekend. The majority of drivers have chosen these test tires, while the McLarens are on mediums and Verstappen on softs. He indeed snatches first place from Bottas as soon as he hits the track, with a time of 1:31.377. That’s 1.6 seconds faster, it’s unbeatable.

Lando Norris comes to save the honor and places himself 0.747 seconds behind his Dutch friend. Lewis Hamilton, on his side, asks his team if his floor is okay. “« We’re checking,” they respond at Mercedes. Meanwhile, a little scare for Yuki Tsunoda who slipped but managed to recover, and for Kevin Magnussen, who had to hit the emergency brake to avoid crashing into Carlos Sainz’s very slow car on the track. In his own unique style, the Danish driver raises his thumb towards the Spanish driver to express his discontent.

What rhythm for the Mercedes at Suzuka?

Charles Leclerc wakes up and places himself 0.331 seconds behind Max Verstappen, who is still the fastest. The Monegasque driver is particularly quick in the second sector. On the other hand, Alex Albon hit a kerb and tells his team that he might have damaged the floor of the car. Then, George Russell goes back out on track to possibly (finally) give us an idea of the pace of the Mercedes during these FP2. He climbs up to 3rd place, 0.677 seconds behind Verstappen, between the two Ferraris. Lewis Hamilton follows his example but only positions himself in 6th place, 0.868 seconds slower than the reigning world champion.

At this point in Free Practice 2, several drivers have swapped their testing tires for softs. This is the case for Lando Norris, who wakes us up a bit and sets a time 0.225 seconds faster than Verstappen. Finally some competition! His teammate Oscar Piastri, also on softs, is struggling to keep up, 0.510 seconds behind the Brit. Charles Leclerc is also hungry, setting his own pace, 0.144 seconds faster than Norris. However, it should be noted that Verstappen didn’t improve his time after taking the lead early in the session. Why tire yourself out unnecessarily?

New scare for Kevin Magnussen, who once again almost crashed into a Ferrari and then into Liam Lawson’s car, who is replacing Daniel Ricciardo once again this weekend. The Danish driver seems in a hurry (and probably a little irritated).

Red flag at the end of the session

To avoid being left too far behind, Verstappen goes back on track and once again crushes all hopes by taking what is rightfully his, with a time of 1:30.688, 0.320 seconds faster than Leclerc. If we take a closer look at the best times in each sector, Verstappen is the fastest in the first one, Leclerc in the second, and… Logan Sargeant in the third sector, the surprise of the day. However, the American is only at the bottom of the standings. On his side, Lewis Hamilton complains about the degradation of his soft tires. Everything seems to be going well for his plan after all. Towards the end of the session, Oscar Piastri takes turn 9 a bit too wide and ends up in the gravel. Fortunately, he manages to recover.

This will not be the case for Pierre Gasly, who, in the last minutes, crashes into the wall at turn 6 after locking his wheels and going straight. He thus prematurely ends this session, which concludes with a red flag.

The classification of Free Practice 2 of the Japanese Grand Prix