Piastri Tops Red Flag-Interrupted Practice at Japanese Grand Prix

Suzuka, Japan — Oscar Piastri of McLaren wrapped up Friday’s action at the Japanese Grand Prix by recording the fastest time during a red flag-affected Free Practice 2 session. The practice was marred by several interruptions, notably after a heavy crash involving Alpine’s Jack Doohan.

The session commenced at 1500 local time under dry and sunny conditions at the Suzuka Circuit, following Lando Norris‘s earlier success in Free Practice 1, where he set the pace while home favorite Yuki Tsunoda made his Red Bull debut.

Doohan, who had relinquished his Alpine to Ryo Hirakawa for the opening practice session, was among the first drivers on track. Early concerns arose for Carlos Sainz, who reported issues with his Williams FW47 but managed to return to the pits. However, disaster struck less than 10 minutes into FP2 for Doohan, who crashed at Turn 1, prompting the first red flag of the session. Fortunately, Doohan reported he was okay, but substantial debris had to be cleared, significantly delaying the session.

When the session resumed 30 minutes later, a long queue of cars lined the pit lane, eager to make up for lost time. Drivers like Tsunoda and Lance Stroll opted for soft tires, while others remained on hard or medium compounds. Just minutes into the resumed session, further disruption occurred as Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin became stuck at Turn 8 after he went off track.

After a brief delay, the session restarted with approximately 20 minutes left. Most teams opted for soft compound tires to finalize their qualifying simulations in this shortened session. George Russell made an early push, overtaking at the pit exit as he aimed for a move on Max Verstappen, before choosing to stay behind the Red Bull driver.

The timesheet saw rapid changes as numerous drivers set fast laps. Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar briefly topped the leaderboard before being bested by Norris. The session was interrupted again when a small fire broke out, leading to yet another red flag.

As the session concluded, Piastri managed to secure the top position with a time of 1:28.114, just 0.049 seconds ahead of his teammate Norris. Hadjar maintained his impressive performance to finish third, followed by Lewis Hamilton in fourth place and Liam Lawson in fifth. George Russell claimed sixth, while Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, Verstappen, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, and Sainz filled the remaining spots in the top ten.

Alex Albon clocked in at 11th for Williams, followed by the Kick Sauber duo of Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto, with Haas drivers Esteban Ocon and Ollie Bearman rounding out the field. Kimi Antonelli finished P16, with both he and Russell abandoning their soft tire runs without competitive times before the session’s end.

Alonso finished at the back alongside Tsunoda, Stroll, and Doohan, neither of whom returned to the track after their respective incidents. With Friday’s running completed, drivers and teams will analyze their data before the third and final practice session on Saturday, set to begin at 1130 local time, leading into the Qualifying rounds later that afternoon.