The Friday in F1 Japanese GP was hectic all round where drivers didn’t get to complete a long run after four red flag stoppages in the second session.
The running order remains a question mark after Friday in F1 Japanese GP at Suzuka after their long run was disrupted in FP2 due to four red flag stoppages. They did undertake some of the running in FP1, but a proper one evaded them which doesn’t readily define the running order.
But McLaren is expected to lead the way after Lando Norris topped FP1 and Oscar Piastri did so in FP2. The two felt positive after Friday, even though the latter had some troubles in the first session. They are wary of the wind changes, which can disrupt anyone’s lap and running.
They think Mercedes will be the one challenging them, where George Russell had another solid day. He was up there with the McLaren pair. He felt good as well along with Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who was in the learning list. He had a small moment but was largely unscathed.
Both Ferrari and Red Bull seemed a bit off, even though they were in and around the Top 5. Both Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton felt good despite the limited running, where the changes worked. Max Verstappen wasn’t 100%, as Yuki Tsunoda found out the car to be certainly tricky.
Norris: “I mean, it’s pretty good. I think we’re still in a good position. I think it’s tricky just because of the wind where it makes a big difference, especially on a circuit like this where it’s so quick. You’re on such a fine limit for such a long time, like the first sector. The tiniest bit of wind can really upset the car quite a lot. I think to be honest I’m sure everyone’s struggling with a similar thing. I still feel good, I still feel like we’re in a reasonable place. We’ve made some steps forward, but still some things to try and improve for tomorrow, so [I’m] happy enough for a Friday. George was very quick this morning, just as quick as us, so I think Mercedes are in a good place.
“Maybe Red Bull looked a little bit further off, but they have looked further off until Qualifying and then they get a bit closer again. To be honest I think [it was] normal, but just a messy session so I don’t think this session was probably the best example of where everyone was. I think maybe FP1 was a better example, you kind of saw teams in order, but I still expect it to be close and a tough battle tomorrow. I mean, I hope it’s not – I hope it’s nice and easy for us! But I’m sure Mercedes at least, and definitely George from today’s showings, will be challenging us a bit tomorrow.”
Russell: “Firstly, it’s good to see that Jack (Doohan) was OK after his accident. That was a very big crash and hopefully he’ll be able to get back out in the car tomorrow morning. From our side, we had a positive day. The car has been handling nicely, although we know the forecast wind change tomorrow will have an impact. McLaren once again looks very strong, and there were several other teams that were competitive on the single lap. It’s unusual to see so many teams so close together so we will have to be at our best to be competing near the front. If we do the job we know we can do though, I’m confident that we can be in the fight for the front two rows in Qualifying.
“Given the interrupted FP2, we still have a few unknowns heading into the race on Sunday. We were only able to complete four laps on the Hard tyre. We therefore have little data to work with in terms of degradation, and any possible graining, on that compound. There is also a threat of rain for race day which could make things interesting. The important thing for Friday though is that we were competitive on the timing screens and that gives us a good platform to build on.”
Leclerc: “It was a constructive day, we tried many different set-ups throughout the practice sessions and I feel that I learned a lot about our car and how we can extract the most from it in the upcoming races. We didn’t put everything together, with multiple red flags and traffic interrupting FP2, but I think that our performance is better than it is on paper right now. It will be interesting to see how the change in conditions, in particular in terms of the wind direction, will affect tomorrow’s sessions.”
Verstappen: “Of course, it was quite chaotic out there for everyone with the red flags so, like everyone else, we couldn’t complete what we wanted to do. This meant that today has been quite difficult for us as we were trying different things in the car and a lot of things weren’t clicking as much as we would have liked. It is quite difficult to put the lap down: you need quite a lot of confidence and commitment around here and, at the moment, I feel like I still have a bit of work to do.
“I was on the soft tyre, which requires a lot of management, and you can’t really push it so I only got about three laps at the end which wasn’t a great read. I think he started off really well in FP1 and then in FP2, it was just very chaotic for everyone. We have a lot of homework to do on our side just to focus on the car. But I think everything worked out well.”
Tsunoda: “FP1 was better than expected. A good start for myself. FP2, I didn’t set a lap time. I think there is still a lot of work to do. Maybe I slightly struggled or there is something we have to look at more in the data from FP2 but so far, overall, it’s ok. I just have to build up the confidence a bit more. It’s a bit different to the simulator, what I felt, to be honest. Maybe a little bit more than I expected in terms of car feeling. I knew that it is always a bit different in the real car and it was just a little bit more exaggerated in the real car and felt a bit more tricky.”
The Top 10 had Visa Cash App RB pair as well. In fact, Isack Hadjar had a good say to be in the Top 3 in the disrupted FP2. On his return, Liam Lawson felt good driving the Racing Bulls car after off-colour time at Red Bull. The likes of Williams and Aston Martin found itself close to each other.
Carlos Sainz was 10th in both the sessions, while Alexander Albon finished 11th. The duo felt good with their brief run and hope to build upon it to score. Fernando Alonso, meanwhile, found himself in the Top 10 in FP1 but slipped off in FP2 to end up in the gravel.
Teammate Lance Stroll had a slightly tough run to find himself with the likes of Sauber and Haas pair. It was so-so for either of the teams, where the latter focused on bettering its high-speed running by introducing an updated floor to rectify the fundamental issue.
The major talking point was Alpine’s Jack Doohan, whose DRS usage in the fast corner led to a major shunt. It left him with only handful of laps after Ryo Hirakawa drove his car in FP1. Pierre Gasly focused on solving a fundamental issue that he has found on his side of the garage.
Lawson: “It was a good day. Nice to be driving, nice to be driving at Suzuka again. It’s a very cool track. With the resurfacing, Sector 1 is even faster now, so it just feels like it’s tearing your head off, which is quite exciting. But yeah, all in all a good day. Obviously tomorrow’s the more important one. It felt good. It does feel different, definitely. I think it’s maybe not what everyone expects, but it is definitely a different feeling to drive. I think the window that the [Racing Bulls] guys have at the moment is very, very good.
“The car’s been fast so far this season, so hopefully we can replicate that tomorrow. It’s been nice. Everybody’s been very, very positive. Even from last week, Laurent was straight on the phone and very, very positive, saying all the things I needed to hear… going to see everyone at the factory, and obviously yesterday coming into the paddock as well. I’ve spent a lot of time with this team, they’re a great bunch of people, and it’s nice to feel that welcome back again, so hopefully we can go and have some good races together.”
Doohan: “First of all, I am okay after the incident. It was a heavy one, something that caught me by surprise, and I will learn from it. I know the team has a lot of work ahead to repair the car going into tomorrow, so thanks in advance to them for their efforts. My focus is on tomorrow where we will have Free Practice 3 to get ready for Qualifying.”
Sainz: “An eventful Friday here in Suzuka. During FP1 we managed to test a few things on the car and do some good running. However, FP2 was very disrupted and I really couldn’t get a proper read of the things we wanted to try out, although it seemed we were working in the right direction. It’s going to be a hectic FP3 for everyone tomorrow, there’s a lot of things to try and the wind direction is going to change, so the cars may feel very different compared to today. I hope Jack is feeling well after his incident and tomorrow he can be back at it.”
Alonso: “It’s always great to drive around Suzuka. It’s a fantastic circuit with a great atmosphere thanks to the amazing fans. The new surface is better. It’s very smooth in the first sector’s high-speed corners. In FP2 I lost the car into Turn 8 and I ended up in the gravel. We’ll have a look at what happened and let’s see what we can do tomorrow in Qualifying.”
Hulkenberg: “I think Friday was okay. FP2 was obviously very limited – we didn’t deliver as many laps as planned because of the four red flags. But that’s the same for everyone, it means we have a limited amount of data and limited information, but the car felt okay and a bit better than in FP1. Obviously, it was difficult to retrieve a proper read and understand everyone’s performance this afternoon. We‘re analysing everything now to optimise the set-up for tomorrow.”
Ocon: “It was a difficult session; it was interrupted by many red flags so we couldn’t complete the run program we wanted. It’s more difficult compared to China currently, we’re lacking a bit here and there, there are things we need to work on, and there are things we’ve tested across cars. We need to dig into it overnight and choose the best for us, it’s all on us to find more performance. I think we’ve made progress with the floor; I think it’s going in the right direction.”
Hirakawa: “It was a great experience to do Free Practice 1 at my home race in Suzuka. It’s a circuit I know very well so I felt quite confident to push straight away and really maximise the session and execute the team’s run plan. We completed everything we intended to do so and learnt some things which should benefit the team going forwards. The car felt quick, that was cool to experience, especially at this fantastic circuit and I’m very grateful to the team for this opportunity. Finally, I am glad to see Jack is OK after his crash.”
FIA on combating grass fire: “While we continue to look into the fires that occurred during FP2, our focus before tomorrow will be on taking pre-emptive measures. The grass has been cut as short as possible, and loose, dried grass has been removed from affected areas. Prior to tomorrow’s sessions, the grass will be dampened, and specific response teams will be stationed around the track.”
Here’s crash of Jack Doohan: https://www.formula1.com/en/video/2025-japanese-gp-fp2-heavy-crash-for-doohan-brings-out-the-red-flags.1828451927407348379
Here’s how FP1 in F1 Japanese GP panned out
Here’s how FP2 in F1 Japanese GP panned out
