During the Suzuka weekend, the second free practice session of the Japanese GP didn’t matter much: a light drizzle made the track too dry for intermediate tires and yet too slippery for slicks, advising drivers not to take risks until five minutes from the checkered flag, when Oscar Piastri broke the deadlock with the McLaren. The Australian, with soft tires, pushed to a 1’34″725, completing 5 laps and managing to get the tires up to temperature.
Oscar preceded Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton by half a second. Lewis had tried to take to the track at the start of the session with the yellows but did not complete a lap, preferring to return to the pit lane because the tires were not engaging. He returned to action at the end with slicks, and the seven-time world champion was ahead of Charles Leclerc. The Monegasque didn’t take risks and was over four seconds behind.
Credit to Racing Bulls: Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo put on a bit of a show with the intermediates, earning respect from the Japanese crowd that filled the stands despite the cold (13 degrees Celsius) and rain. Nine drivers are listed in the timing list, while thirteen took to the track, but four did not complete a lap.
Lando Norris (McLaren), Carlos Sainz (Ferrari), Esteban Ocon (Alpine), and Kevin Magnussen (Haas) also recorded times. Things went well for Logan Sargeant, who therefore didn’t miss out on any track action as he couldn’t run after the crash in the first free practice session at the Suzuka circuit: the American had to skip the second session while the mechanics were repairing his Williams, which had damaged the front wing in the morning (he will have to race with an old specification), the suspensions, and the gearbox, which was replaced. The chassis was not damaged, so Logan Sargeant will have the opportunity to drive tomorrow, given that the Grove team does not have a spare monocoque.
As you can see, only seven drivers set lap times during what was a slightly damp squib of a session:
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