McLaren’s Oscar Piastri topped a disrupted Free Practice 2 (FP2) of the 2025 F1 Japanese Grand Prix, finishing ahead of teammate Lando Norris and Racing Bulls rookie Isack Hadjar. The session saw four red flags which significantly limited the drivers’ time on track.
Just hours after McLaren’s Lando Norris finished the first Free Practice session (FP1) at the top of the timesheets, beating out Mercedes’ George Russell, the 20 drivers returned to the track for another round of data collection. Russell dominated the early part of FP1, setting an early benchmark which remained unbeated well past the halfway mark of FP1. Norris, on the other hand, appeared to struggle, finding himself in the gravel on more than one occassion.
The Bristol-born driver only truely manage to show his prowress in the final quarter, putting down and impressive 1:28.549. With Mercedes opting to use the last minutes of the session to evaluate their tyre degradation over long runs, Russell extended his stint to 16 laps, ending the session in P2.
After a somewhat slow start, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc pulled himself up to P3, finishing ahead of his teammate Lewis Hamilton in P4, and the Red Bull duo of Max Verstappen and Yuki Tsunoda, who despite their best efforts, were unable tocould not keep pace with their faster rivals. Though these results are a far cry from what the Milton Keynes-based team would have desired, Tsunoda’s P6 finish signaled a promising start to the Japanese driver’s Red Bull career. Tsunoda, the man of the hour, recorded a top time of 1:29.172, just 0.107 seconds slower than Verstappen’s 1:29.065.
With tyre degradation posing a potential added challenge around an already tricky circuit, FP2 provided an opportunity for the teams to capitalise on their data collection as they prepare for Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix race.
Green Flag
With many drivers struggling to keep within the white lines, FP2 proved a crucial opportunity for them to work on their approach to the trickier corners, especially in Sector 1. Track limit violations, after all, could prove detrimental to the drivers’ Qualifying sessions, and the race itself on Sunday. After a close FP1 session, with the top 14 drivers less than a second off the top, small mistakes, especially in high-pressure moments, and with the added threats of windy conditions and high tyre degradation, could be severely punished around the Suzuka Circuit.
As the lights went green, Williams’ Carlos Sainz led the drivers out onto the track, followed by Alpine’s Pierre Gasly. However, at the end of his first lap, the Spaniard returned to the pitlane, claiming an issue with the car.
“Something is wrong with the car, it’s bouncing like crazy,” Sainz explained over the radio. With the cause uncertain, Williams opted to wheel him back into the garage to conduct their investigations.
Norris, having topped the earlier FP1 was the man to beat, thought Russell, who had been fastest on the mediums, emerged as an early threat to the McLaren driver’s race weekend. However, it was Ferrari’s Hamilton who set the first notable benchmark—a 1:29.950 on the hard compound tyres. With both drivers on the hard tyres, Ferrari appeared to be prioritising long runs, in preparation for Sunday’s race. However, he soon fell to second, with Mercedes’ Russell, also on the hard tyres, going top with a 1:29.666.
Doohan brings out the Red Flag
With just over six minutes complete, Jack Doohan brought out the yellow flag after going into the barriers at Turn 1. The Australian driver, who missed FP1 due to Alpine fielding Ryo Hirakawa as part of their obligation to rookie drivers. Race control soon upgraded the yellow flag to red.
Doohan’s crash was a massive one, made worse by him having had his DRS open at the time of the crash. While Doohan was quick to reassure his team that he was okay, he did require a medical check-up. His ability to complete the weekend will be determined after he has the mandatory medical assessments. While Alpine does have an available reserve in Hirakawa, Doohan will be loathe to miss the rest of the race weekend. Of course, with such heavy damage after the Free Practice 2 crash, Doohan’s car will require significant repairs if it is to run in the remaining sessions of the Japanese Grand Prix weekend.
Session resumes with 30 minutes remaining
With just 30 minutes left in the Free Practice 2 of the Japanese Grand Prix, the drivers returned to the track. Lando Norris led the pack out from the pitlane with teammate Oscar Piastri just behind. With more than 20 minutes lost to the red flag, the teams found themselves needing to re-evaluate their run-plans.
Alonso brings out second Red Flag
While some drivers, including Piastri and Ferrari’s Leclerc managed to improve their times, another yellow flag, quickly upgraded to a red, further cut into the session. Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso dripped a wheel on the grass and went wide at speed into the gravel trap at the Degner Curves. Though both he and his car appeared unharmed, he found himself out of FP2 as the clock ticked down.
Session resumes with 20 minutes left
With just under 19 minutes left, the drivers returned to the track, with Russell forcing himself past the cars in front of him to get his outlap underway. Most of the drivers switched onto the soft compound tyres, with teams hoping to run some qualifying simulations in the dying minutes of Free Practice 2 at the Japanese Grand Prix.
With just over fifteen minutes remaining, Leclerc set the fastest time before Russell knocked him down to second. Hamilton then went quickest before falling to Racing Bulls’ rookie Isack Hadjar. Hadjar’s teammate, Liam Lawson—demoted from Red Bull ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix—went third before McLaren’s Norris and Piastris improved their times to take P1 and P3, respectively.
Race control again red-flagged the session, however, with the marshalls needing to attend to grass on fire.
There was however, some good news, with Doohan emerging from the medical session with an apparent clean bill of health.
Session resumes with five minutes on the clock
With less than five minutes left before the chequered flag, the drivers returned to the track for some final laps. Piastri was the first to improve his time, going top of the timesheets with a 1:28.114. Near the midfield, Williams’ Sainz, who suffered a difficult start to the session went 10th, 0.718 seconds down from Piastri. His teammate, Alex Albon settled into 11th.
The session was brought to an early end with Race Control red-flagging the session for the fourth time. Once again, the grass was on fire and with less than a minute left on the clock, the drivers returned to their garages, denied an opportunity for a practice start.
Full Session Results
- Oscar Piastri
- Lando Norris
- Isack Hadjar
- Lewis Hamilton
- Liam Lawson
- George Russell
- Charles Leclerc
- Max Verstappen
- Pierre Gasly
- Carlos Sainz
- Alex Albon
- Nico Hülkenberg
- Gabriel Bortoleto
- Esteban Ocon
- Oliver Bearman
- Kimi Antonelli
- Fernando Alonso
- Yuki Tsunoda
- Lance Stroll
- Jack Doohan
Feature Image Credit: Red Bull Content Pool
