Oscar Piastri emerged victorious in a wild second practice session for the Japanese Grand Prix, leading a McLaren one-two in a day plagued by four red flags.
The session kicked off with a flurry of action as teams rushed out of the pits, eager to make up for lost time.
However, Williams were quickly on the back foot as Carlos Sainz reported his car “bouncing like crazy through Turn 13,” a problem evident from the cockpit as his head jolted violently. Mechanics wheeled him back into the garage, leaving Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton to set an early pace with a 1:29.9 on hard tyres.
McLaren’s Lando Norris looked poised to challenge that benchmark on medium tyres, only for the session to grind to a halt.
Alpine’s Jack Doohan suffered a massive high-speed crash at Turn 1, losing control and slamming into the barriers. The Australian radioed “all okay” as he climbed from the wreckage of his A524, a testament to Formula 1’s safety strides. Doohan had already sat out FP1 for rookie Ryo Hirakawa, and this shunt left Alpines with a mountain to climb for the weekend.
The cleanup triggered a lengthy red flag, with the session resuming at the halfway mark, 30 minutes remaining. Teams scrambled back onto the track, with Mercedes opting for hard tyres on George Russell, Red Bulls choosing softs for Yuki Tsunoda, and McLarens sticking with mediums for Norris.
But chaos struck again. Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso spun into the gravel between the Degner corners, beaching his car after dipping a wheel onto the grass. “Bit of bouncing, something strange on the entry,” he said over the radio.
With 19 minutes left, the green flag waved once more. Soft tyres became the weapon of choice as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc posted a 1:28.6, only for Russell to edge him out by half a tenth.
Hamilton then took over with a 1:28.518, but McLarens stole the show. Norris fired off a blistering 1:28.163, three-tenths clear of Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar. Red Bulls’ Max Verstappen, meanwhile, struggled in P8, complaining of “understeering everywhere.”
Just as the session found its rhythm, a bizarre twist unfolded, grass at Turn 7 caught fire, prompting yet another red flag. With seven minutes to go, the track reopened, and Piastri seized the moment.
His 1:28.114 pipped Norris by 0.049 seconds, securing a McLaren lockout at the top. “It was a messy day, but we got the job done,” Piastri said post-session.
There was still time for drama, though. Hamilton and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll were flagged for potentially ignoring race director instructions, while a second grass fire ensured FP2 ended under red flag conditions.
The final times painted an intriguing picture: Piastri led Norris, with Hadjar, Hamilton, and Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson rounding out the top five. Verstappen languished in eighth, over half a second off the pace, while Doohan propped up the order in 20th.
Teams now face an uphill battle to decode the pecking order ahead of the 53-lap Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday, April 6, at the 5.807-kilometre Suzuka Circuit. With practice running so disrupted, expect the unexpected in this 2025 season showdown.
FP2 times for the Japanese Grand Prix:
1. Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:28.114
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. Kimi Antonello 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
