Oscar Piastri closed out Friday at the Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix by leading a close second free practice session in Suzuka, with George Russell topping the timesheets in FP1.
The McLaren driver set a 1:30.133, a tenth clear of their nearest rivals, the Mercedes duo. Kimi Antonelli was next to follow Piastri, missing out on P1 by nine hundredths. Rounding out the top three was championship leader George Russell, who was two tenths behind.
Mercedes led the weekend early, securing a 1-2 in the first hour of practice. Closely behind them is the McLaren duo of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. The Woking-based team are hoping for a better result this weekend, following their disastrous double DNS in China.
However, their woes continued before the start of the session. Norris’ McLaren would not partake in the first part of FP2, due to a potential hydraulic leak.
The team worked throughout the early stages of the session to ensure the issue was resolved before Norris hit the track.
FP1 – Russell pushes hard to take top spot
The session started amid a red wave, as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton traded fastest laps in the early minutes.
Russell began to find his feet and duly went fastest, but Leclerc once again got himself back to the top, but after fitting Softs on a later run, Russell indeed seized the advantage again.
Antonelli went quickest, with Russell making a mistake on his next push lap. But his next time would be the ultimate telling difference – a 1:33.666s – with Antonelli settling for second.
The Suzuka circuit was once again providing its unique challenge, with Russell and Isack Hadjar encountering some scary moments of understeer.
Max Verstappen, fresh from his Thursday media day controversy, was seventh, with Piastri looking strong in third.
Alex Albon was in the wars during the session, nudging the barrier after a mistake at Degner 2, before colliding with Sergio Perez’s Cadillac.
FP2 – Piastri signals first real positivity of 2026
As the lights went out, all drivers, bar Norris, were out on track for their early exploration laps. In the pit lane, there was early drama, with a Williams being released into the path of Pierre Gasly.
Elsewhere, it was a frustrating session for Arvid Lindblad, whose Friday running ended prematurely. The rookie was forced to retire the car just ten minutes into the session after encountering a downshift issue.
Issues continued to plague the grid, with Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto set to not partake in FP2 with power unit issues. Similarly to Norris, the Brazilian’s car was stripped, as the team attempted to solve the issue before the rest of the weekend.
There was also drama for Alex Albon, who came to a stop just beyond Turn 1. The incident briefly brought out yellow flags, but Albon managed to get the car moving again shortly after stopping. Allowing the session to continue.
Meanwhile, at the front of the field, Oscar Piastri showed impressive pace, setting a benchmark lap of 1:31.067 during the session. The early time for the Australian could be a confidence booster, as he aims to start his first Grand Prix in 2026.
It wasn’t long until the Ferraris resumed their pace, with Charles Leclerc setting a 1:31.019 to lead the grid early in Suzuka.
Lando Norris finally hit the track in FP2, with 37 minutes remaining in the session. Importantly for Norris, he will be able to get solid running around the track, before tomorrow’s final hour of practice before qualifying.
At the halfway point of the session, it was Piastri who remained on top. The Australian held off Mercedes’ early threat with a 1:30.193. However, race-winner Kimi Antonelli was just nine hundredths away from the McLaren driver.
On his first representative lap time, Norris, on medium tyres, was 1.3 seconds off the pace of his team-mate. So far the times McLaren have set are encouraging, compared to their form in both Melbourne and Shanghai.
Bortoleto was able to get out on track for the final ten minutes of the session. With Audi fixing the power unit issues that forced him onto the sidelines early in FP2.
As the minutes ticked down in the session, Norris set his first qualifying simulation time, just five tenths short of his team-mate Piastri out front. Whilst still off the pace of Mercedes and Piastri, Norris was able to match and beat the two Ferraris of Leclerc and Hamilton.
Importantly, no driver was able to challenge Piastri’s early time, with many focusing on race simulations toward the end of the session.
At the chequered flag, it was McLaren, Mercedes and Ferrari who seemed to be in the prime position for qualifying tomorrow.
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