McLaren’s Oscar Piastri topped Friday Practice for 2025 Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka, amidst a chaotic FP2 which saw four red flags.
Piastri’s teammate, Lando Norris topped FP1 and looked on course to top FP2 until the Aussie snatched the quickest time on his final flying lap at the end of the session, which was disrupted by four red flags.
Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar headed the rest of the field on a day where the pecking order can’t be read in-depth due to the disruptions in FP2, which saw Alpine’s Jack Doohan and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso spin out before two separate grass fires ultimately curtailed the session.
FP1
Haas’ Oliver Bearman was first out on track but it was McLaren’s Oscar Piastri who initially set a benchmark 1m 32.615 on the medium tyres.
Red Bull however had sent both Max Verstappen and their new driver, Yuki Tsunoda straight out on the soft tyres and Verstappen quickly set the pace with 1m 30.738, which he soon lowered to 1m 29.690 just ten minutes into the session.
Mercedes’ George Russell bided his time on the medium tyre before he went quickest with 1m 29.616 in the 19th minute, before he lowered the benchmark time to 1m 29.176 ahead of the soft-tyre Qualifying simulations.
Russell improved on both of his soft-tyre laps to set 1m 28.712 as the time to beat which only Norris bettered to top the session with 1m 28.549, despite having initially ran wide out of the penultimate corner on his first soft-tyre lap.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 1m 28.549 |
| 2 | George Russell | Mercedes | + 0.163 |
| 3 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 0.416 |
| 4 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | + 0.502 |
| 5 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | + 0.516 |
| 6 | Yuki Tsunoda | Red Bull | + 0.623 |
| 7 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | + 0.673 |
| 8 | Isack Hadjar | Racing Bulls | + 0.676 |
| 9 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | + 0.735 |
| 10 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | + 0.784 |
| 11 | Alex Albon | Williams | + 0.843 |
| 12 | Ryo Hirakawa | Alpine | + 0.845 |
| 13 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | + 0.987 |
| 14 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | + 0.998 |
| 15 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | + 1.159 |
| 16 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 1.209 |
| 17 | Nico Hulkenberg | Sauber | + 1.474 |
| 18 | Oliver Bearman | Sauber | + 1.528 |
| 19 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | + 1.574 |
| 20 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Sauber | + 1.598 |
FP2
After he sat out FP1, Alpine’s Doohan was first out on track and set 1m 31.659 as the benchmark time but his teammate, Gasly went 0.240 seconds quicker, whilst Mercedes’ George Russell set the pace amongst early runners with 1m 29.666 on the hard tyre in the seventh minute.
The session however suffered its first red flag a minute later after Doohan suffered a 160mph crash at Turn 1 due to a sudden loss of grip on entry, which left the session at the standstill for 23 minutes.
McLaren’s Norris and Piastri were first on track when the session recommenced in the 31st minute but the session was red flagged again just three minutes later, after Alonso spun out at the first Degner Curve due to a mix of tailwind and dipping his left tyres on the grass upon entry.
The session resumed after an eight-minute delay as teams switched focus to the soft-tyre Qualifying simulations which saw Norris emerge quickest with 1m 28.163 ahead of Hadjar and Piastri.
Further disruption soon ensured as there was a third red flag in the 47th minute due to a small fire on the grass near the exit of Turn 7, although the session recommenced seven minutes later.
Whilst some teams opted to focus on a mini long-run simulation in the closing minutes, McLaren opted to do another Qualifying simulation, which saw Piastri improve to snatch the fastest lap of the session with 1m 28.114 ahead of Norris with three minutes left on the clock.
A fourth red flag ultimately ended the session with 19s left on the clock due to another grass fire with practice starts on the grid cancelled.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 1m 28.114 |
| 2 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 0.049 |
| 3 | Isack Hadjar | Racing Bulls | + 0.404 |
| 4 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | + 0.430 |
| 5 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | + 0.445 |
| 6 | George Russell | Mercedes | + 0.453 |
| 7 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 0.472 |
| 8 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | + 0.556 |
| 9 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | + 0.643 |
| 10 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | + 0.718 |
| 11 | Alex Albon | Williams | + 0.909 |
| 12 | Nico Hulkenberg | Sauber | + 0.948 |
| 13 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Sauber | + 1.221 |
| 14 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | + 1.393 |
| 15 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | + 1.540 |
| 16 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | + 1.619 |
| 17 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | + 1.864 |
| 18 | Yuki Tsunoda | Red Bull | + 2.511 |
| 19 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 2.731 |
| 20 | Jack Doohan | Alpine | + 3.545 |
Leave a Reply