Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris from McLaren achieved the fastest times as the second practice session for the Japanese Grand Prix on Friday was heavily disrupted by four red flags. Two of these red flags were caused by grass fires next to the track.
Australian driver Piastri, fresh from his victory in the previous race in China, managed to complete a lap in 1:28.114 seconds between the last two red flag periods. This secured him the top spot on a day that was sunny but cool at the Suzuka circuit.
Championship leader Norris, who was also fastest in the first practice session, finished second in the later session. He was approximately four-tenths of a second ahead of Isack Hadjar, a French rookie from Racing Bulls.
The significant interruptions during the second session meant that many drivers could not complete extended runs. This leaves considerable work for them and their teams to analyze in the final practice session before Saturday`s qualifying.
The second session was barely seven minutes in when Jack Doohan of Alpine spun off the track at the first corner. He went across the gravel and collided with a wall.
Doohan, who had been replaced by reserve driver Ryo Hirakawa for the first practice, appeared shaken as he was assisted away from his damaged car.
The session was paused for 22 minutes. It had only resumed for three minutes when another red flag was issued after Fernando Alonso of Spain went off-track and his Aston Martin became stuck in the gravel.
Following a seven-minute break, there were only five minutes of racing before a fire ignited in the grass beside the track, causing another red flag.
Piastri managed to set his fastest lap, overtaking Norris, before yet another patch of grass caught fire, possibly ignited by sparks from a passing car. This incident brought the session to an early conclusion.
It was a disappointing session for the spectators, who had earlier cheered Yuki Tsunoda of Japan. Tsunoda achieved the sixth-fastest time in the first session for Red Bull, having recently replaced Liam Lawson in the Racing Bulls team the previous week.
Importantly, Tsunoda was only a tenth of a second behind his teammate, four-time world champion Max Verstappen, who was fifth. This is a significant improvement compared to Lawson`s performance in the first two races of the season.
Verstappen, from the Netherlands, reported understeer in the second session, where he finished more than half a second behind the leading pace with the eighth fastest time.
Lawson, back with the Racing Bulls team, managed only the 13th fastest time in the first session but improved to fifth in the second session.
Mercedes may find some encouragement from George Russell, who led for much of the first session and recorded the second-fastest lap. He was ahead of the Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, who were third and fourth respectively.
