Oscar Piastri tops rain-affected Japanese GP second practice
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri was fastest in a damp second practice for Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix but it was world champion Max Verstappen who topped the timesheets for Red Bull in the dry FP1 session on Friday.
Meanwhile, Logan Sargeant deepened the woes of the Williams team by slamming his car into a trackside tyre wall.
Verstappen, looking to get back to winning ways this weekend after his first retirement since 2022 in Australia two weeks ago, clocked a lap time of 1min30.056sec in the dry opening session to top the times 0.181sec ahead of team-mate Sergio Perez.
Rain started falling at the figure-of-eight circuit before second practice with teams electing to keep their cars in the garage for much of the session to conserve tyres for the rest of the weekend.
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, fifth fastest in the first session, ventured out in his Mercedes during a gap between showers but abandoned a flying lap when it started drizzling again.
Japan’s Yuki Tsunoda and his RB team-mate Daniel Ricciardo offered the fans in the stands some entertainment and recorded the first lap times but they were more than 10 seconds slower than Verstappen’s time in first practice.
Australian Piastri clocked a 1:34.725 in a late run on soft tyres in his McLaren, the fastest of the nine drivers who completed flying laps mostly in the last couple of minutes of the session.
Carlos Sainz, who led a Ferrari 1-2 in Melbourne, was third fastest in the opening session 0.213sec behind Verstappen, while his team mate Charles Leclerc was sixth, half a second off the pace, behind the Mercedes of George Russell and Hamilton.
The weather made little difference to Sargeant, whose shunt caused a lengthy red-flag stoppage in the opening session and left the Williams mechanics desperately scrambling to get his car ready for Saturday’s qualifying.
The 23-year-old American was unable to race in Melbourne two weeks ago after giving up his car to more experienced team mate Alexander Albon, who had crashed his own in practice.
Williams patched up the car but arrived in Japan with no spare chassis so Sargeant could miss out again if the team mechanics are unable to repair it in time for Sunday’s race.
“Sorry,” Sargeant said on the team radio after spinning off at a corner.
The cars return to the track for the third free practice early on Saturday before qualifying in the late afternoon.
Japanese Grand Prix, second practice: as it happened
08:14 AM BST
Not great for Daniel Ricciardo, all that rain
He missed the dry FP1 session, when Red Bull junior driver, current Super Formula and F2 race winner Ayumu Iwasa took his spot. It’s not what he needs on a track like this when he has already had a difficult start to the season.
08:12 AM BST
A reminder of the remaining session times for this weekend
Saturday April 6
Third practice: 3.30-4.30am
Qualifying: 7am
Sunday April 7
Japanese Grand Prix 2024: 6am
08:09 AM BST
Limited practice running is often a good thing
I’m not sure it will make any difference to the advantage Red Bull have at the front, particularly Max Verstappen, but it may help shake up the already tight midfield. We will find out when we get to qualifying tomorrow. As I said earlier, there is only a small chance of rain here for the rest of the weekend.
08:05 AM BST
FP2 – Classification
-
PIA 1:34.725
-
HAM +0.501
-
LEC +4.035
-
TSU +6.221
-
RIC +7.188
-
NOR +10.252
-
SAI +17.854
-
HUL +20.454
-
BOT +21.334
-
OCO +24.388
-
ZHO +28.096
-
ALB +29.096
-
MAG (NO TIME)
A few more drivers cross the line at the end of the session but you would struggle to call them representative.
08:03 AM BST
FP2 ends – Piastri fastest
Just five drivers set a lap time and seven drivers did not even exit the pit lane at all.
08:02 AM BST
FP2 – Leclerc also posts a lap time
It’s third, and four seconds off Piastri as the chequered flag falls.
08:02 AM BST
FP2 – Piastri improves again
It’s a 1:34.725. Lewis Hamilton posts the fastest middle sector but is six-tenths down on Piastri’s fastest time at the same point and then crosses the line half a second off the Australian.
08:00 AM BST
FP2 – Into the final two minutes
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri on the soft tyres has just gone fastest by 1.841sec over home hero Yuki Tsunoda. The Ferraris and Norris are also out on the softs. Piastri is about to improve again and he does and is now four seconds faster than Tsunoda. Hamilton also out on softs as the track gets dry enough for slick tyres.
07:55 AM BST
FP2 – Haas cars on the soft tyres and on track
Magnussen says he’s coming straight back in again, though. That makes it nine cars who have run this session which has been a bit of a waste of time for everyone. At least Logan Sargeant will not be too disadvantaged by missing the session. Albon says the track is ready for slicks…
07:54 AM BST
FP2 – Some interesting news at RB
Daniel Ricciardo will have a new chassis for the weekend. That is not because of any damage, though. Asking for a new chassis is normally the sign of a driver who is struggling and they don’t know why, with this the last option to try. RB say that this is not the case with Ricciardo, however.
At the current rate I would be very surprised if he sees out the end of the season. Plenty of time to turn it around, though his chances of a Red Bull seat look to have gone.
07:49 AM BST
FP2 – This will be an interesting weekend for most teams
It will be a good barometer of progress. It was around six months ago that we last raced here with the 2023-spec cars so it is a useful guide for how much this year’s cars have improved both absolutely and – more importantly – relatively. The most interesting teams to watch will be McLaren (double podium last year) and Mercedes (just generally in a mess and this track could expose their weaknesses). Ferrari will also be ones to watch given their improvement from the end of last year.
Not much interesting data from this practice session, mind you.
07:43 AM BST
FP2 – 18 minutes remain
Just two drivers with a lap time on the board and only seven cars have taken to the track at all, the latest of which is the Sauber of Valtteri Bottas. He won in Suzuka for Mercedes in 2019. Never a bad one to notch up a win at, this track.
07:40 AM BST
FP2 – Ricciardo also improves on his second go
He is now within a second of team-mate Tsunoda, for what it’s worth, which is not a great deal at all. Shame about this session, really, but there you go.
07:37 AM BST
FP2 – Tsunoda is going again on the intermediate tyres
He is going faster in the first two sectors and will probably beat his previous time by a couple of seconds. Not quite in the end, but just under 1.4sec.
07:35 AM BST
FP2 – We have some lap times on the board
It’s the two RB cars – Tsunoda and Ricciardo, the former being 4.157sec faster than the latter, with a 1:42.304. Albon bails out of his run and confirms it is too dry for intermediate tyres.
07:32 AM BST
FP2 – Piastri says it’s too dry
Too dry for intermediates he means. So drivers do not seem keen to burn up their intermediate tyres if they are needed throughout the weekend, which they might be. That said, the forecast does not predict a great amount of precipitation.
07:26 AM BST
FP2 – Well, you know what….
It looks like Oscar Piastri is about to emerge from the pit lane on intermediate tyres…
07:22 AM BST
FP2 – This rain has likely scuppered any further running for the next little while
FP1 was completely dry so there is little for the teams to learn here. There is an outside chance of rain on Sunday but qualifying will almost certainly be dry.
07:17 AM BST
FP2 – Hamilton backs out of his first timed lap
And comes into the pit lane. Daniel Ricciardo becomes the second driver to exit it so far in this session and says: “It’s starting to rain more”. Ahhh.
07:15 AM BST
FP2 – Hamilton says it’s pretty dry
A bit slippery exiting the final chicane, though he says there are a few spots out there.
07:13 AM BST
FP2 – We have a car on track!
It’s Lewis Hamilton on the mediums. Let’s see how this goes. As I said it’s not wet out there, just a little damp. Clearly not damp enough for intermediates. Well, unless Lewis Hamilton slides off here…
07:12 AM BST
FP2 – What about Vettel to Mercedes?
I think we should take what Vettel says with an enormous pinch of salt. In any case he said he was “talking” to Toto Wolff, not that he was having talks over a contract. I’ve talked to Toto Wolff too but it doesn’t mean I’m under consideration for a drive next year. It would be, at best, a very strange choice should they decide to put Vettel in that car alongside Russell. It’s not like he ended his time in F1 with his best years. He did have a half-decent finish to 2022, though, that said. But that was a long time ago now.
07:07 AM BST
FP2 – 55 minutes remain
Yep, still no cars out. So perhaps in the meantime read this news story: Lewis Hamilton: Sebastian Vettel would be ‘amazing option’ to replace me at Mercedes.
07:02 AM BST
GREEN LIGHT: FP2 begins
And, obviously, there are no cars waiting patiently at the end of the pit lane. I’m afraid that may well be the case for a little while. That said, it is not especially wet out there. The problem is that as long as the cars stay out it it will remain damp for a while. It has stopped raining, though, so hopefully not too much longer.
06:58 AM BST
Weather update
It has rained at Suzuka. Which is pretty bad news for people who want to see lots of on-track action.
06:52 AM BST
Update: Sargeant will not take part in FP2
Well, it’s better than not taking part in FP3, qualifying or the race as was the case in Melbourne.
06:48 AM BST
An update from Williams
The good news is that the chassis is fine. The bad news is that pretty much everything else isn’t… no word on whether he will take part in FP2 but going by what we saw and what James Vowles has said it looks doubtful.
06:44 AM BST
Is this track the best on the calendar?
When it comes to the challenge and driver experience, I think probably. It does not always produce the absolute best racing but it is surely up there with the likes of Monza, Spa-Francorchamps and Silverstone.
06:36 AM BST
Watch: Hulkenberg gets a little frustrated with an RB
06:34 AM BST
Constructor standings
Again, four points the difference between first and second here and the same goes for what I said below about the drivers’ standings. Still, I think Ferrari will be able to push Red Bull more than runners-up Mercedes did last year, going by what we have seen in 2024. That said, Mercedes did not really push Red Bull at all…
06:23 AM BST
Current driver standings: Top 10
Just four points separate Verstappen and Leclerc. That is surely the lowest it will be all season.
06:19 AM BST
Watch: Sargeant crashes out of FP1
Interestingly, this weekend he is driving the repaired chassis that Albon crashed with in Australia two weeks ago…
06:15 AM BST
FP1 positions and times
-
VER 1:30.056
-
PER +0.181
-
SAI +0.213
-
RUS +0.474
-
HAM +0.487
-
LEC +0.502
-
ALO +0.543
-
PIA +1.109
-
TSU +1.174
-
NOR +1.184
-
OCO +1.879
-
ALB +1.887
-
HUL +1.902
-
BOT +1.998
-
STR +1.999
-
IWA +2.047
-
GAS +2.221
-
ZHO +2.582
-
MAG +2.747
-
SAR +3.148
06:03 AM BST
FP1 report: Verstappen fastest as Sargeant crashes
World champion Max Verstappen topped the timesheets for Red Bull in the first free practice session for the Japanese Grand Prix on Friday as Logan Sargeant deepened the woes of the Williams team by slamming his car into a trackside tyre wall.
Verstappen, looking to get back to winning ways this weekend after his first retirement since 2022 in Australia two weeks ago, clocked one minute, 30.056 seconds when the session resumed after a red-flag stoppage for Sargeant’s shunt.
Sergio Perez was second fastest, 0.181 seconds behind his Red Bull team-mate, with Carlos Sainz, the winner last time out in Melbourne, 0.213 off the pace in third place for Ferrari.
Sargeant was unable to race in Melbourne two weeks ago after his more experienced team-mate Alex Albon crashed his car in practice.
Williams patched up the car but arrived in Japan with no spare chassis so Sargeant could miss out again if the team mechanics are unable to fix it in time for Sunday’s race.
“Sorry,” the American said on the team radio after spinning off at a corner, before adding: “I’m okay.”
Verstappen was unable to get out of the garage for the first 15 minutes as his mechanics fixed a broken part on his car but quickly showed his pace on hard tyres in dry conditions once he did.
Lewis Hamilton knocked him off top spot with what turned out to be his best time (1:30.543) in his Mercedes just before the red flag.
Ferrari showed some of the pace that took them to a 1-2 in Melbourne but Sainz was unable to match the Red Bulls while his team mate Charles Leclerc was sixth fastest, half a second off the pace, behind the Mercedes of George Russell and Hamilton.
The cars return to the track for the second free practice later on Friday, which begins at 7am BST.
Reuters