Lewis Hamilton found his form in second practice for the Japanese Grand Prix as he posted a 1:35.078 to clear team-mate Nico Rosberg by almost a quarter of a second.
The Mercedes advantage once again looks strong as third-placed Valtteri Bottas could only get within 1.2 seconds of Hamilton’s time, whilst the top ten were covered by over two seconds.
The session however was dominated by crashes and red flags as several drivers struggled with Suzuka’s demanding layout.
Tenth placed man Daniel Ricciardo crashed at the final right-hand turn leading to a red flag, whilst Jean-Eric Vergne stopped on track with an engine issue, triggering a secon red flag.
Esteban Gutierrez lost control of his Sauber whilst entering the Spoon Curve and hit the barriers before local favourite Kamui Kobayashi’s session ended after just four laps with a crash as well.
FP2 Full Times – 2014 Japanese Grand Prix:
| # | No. | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:35.078 | 28 | |
| 02 | 6 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:35.318 | 0.240 | 27 |
| 03 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams | 1:36.279 | 1.201 | 24 |
| 04 | 22 | Jenson Button | McLaren | 1:36.409 | 1.331 | 28 |
| 05 | 1 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull | 1:36.436 | 1.358 | 24 |
| 06 | 7 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 1:36.529 | 1.451 | 19 |
| 07 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1:36.637 | 1.559 | 26 |
| 08 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | McLaren | 1:36.714 | 1.636 | 31 |
| 09 | 26 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso | 1:36.943 | 1.865 | 27 |
| 10 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 1:37.186 | 2.108 | 3 |
| 11 | 25 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Toro Rosso | 1:37.219 | 2.141 | 19 |
| 12 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India | 1:37.504 | 2.426 | 16 |
| 13 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus | 1:37.563 | 2.485 | 31 |
| 14 | 19 | Felipe Massa | Williams | 1:37.700 | 2.622 | 18 |
| 15 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Force India | 1:37.786 | 2.708 | 8 |
| 16 | 13 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus | 1:37.798 | 2.720 | 27 |
| 17 | 99 | Adrian Sutil | Sauber | 1:38.010 | 2.932 | 25 |
| 18 | 21 | Esteban Gutierrez | Sauber | 1:38.365 | 3.287 | 9 |
| 19 | 9 | Marcus Ericsson | Caterham | 1:39.069 | 3.991 | 22 |
| 20 | 17 | Jules Bianchi | Marussia | 1:39.306 | 4.228 | 20 |
| 21 | 4 | Max Chilton | Marussia | 1:39.333 | 4.255 | 24 |
| 22 | 10 | Kamui Kobayashi | Caterham | 1:42.760 | 7.682 | 3 |
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