Max Verstappen remained on top in FP2 of F1 Japanese GP as he led from Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris in a smooth session.
It was a smooth run in FP2 of F1 Japanese GP at Suzuka, where Red Bull’s Max Verstappen set the pace again with a 1m30.688s lap. But this time the gap was only 0.3s as opposed to 0.6s in FP1, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc slotting in second.
McLaren’s Lando Norris was third from the other Ferrari of Carlos Sainz, with Mercedes’ George Russell slotting in fifth after a late quick lap. His teammate Lewis Hamilton seemingly did not have the best of runs in 14th after setting his time late as well.
Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso slotted in sixth from Williams’ Alexander Albon, with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri in eighth from Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas in the Top 10, where the Finn had a massive lock-up at one point.
Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll was 11th from the lead Alpine of Esteban Ocon as his teammate Pierre Gasly did not have a great time in 19th, who ended the session early causing a late red flag. He locked-up at Degner 2 and went straight onto the barrier.
Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg was 13th from Hamilton, with Liam Lawson ending up as the lead AlphaTauri in 15th. Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu was 16th from Haas’ Kevin Magnussen, as AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda was 18th after having a bit of a here and there session.
The Chinese racer’s session ended early due to hydraulic issue, as the aeformentioned Gasly was 19th from Williams’ Logan Sargeant to round out the 20 runners.
Here’s how FP1 of F1 Japanese GP panned out