Oscar Piastri was the fastest in the second Free Practise session of the Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix 2026 on Friday, putting McLaren on top with a strong lap of 1:30.133 at the Suzuka Circuit amid Mercedes dominance.
Kimi Antonelli came closest to challenging Piastri, finishing just under a tenth behind, while George Russell slotted into third a further fraction back. Mercedes once again looked consistent, even if they didn’t quite match McLaren’s outright pace on the mediums.
It was a relatively quiet session for Scuderia Ferrari, although Charles Leclerc topped the timesheets once earlier in FP2 with a 1:31.019 before being displaced by the Mercedes drivers. Lewis Hamilton, meanwhile, struggled to find confidence and ended the session off the leading pace.
Our top three in FP2 👇
① Oscar
② Kimi
③ George #F1 #JapaneseGP pic.twitter.com/vr5AUeNqBf— Formula 1 (@F1) March 27, 2026
Lando Norris had a disrupted outing after a garage issue delayed his running, but he recovered to finish within half a second of his teammate on soft tyres despite a moment of instability at the final chicane.
Max Verstappen endured a relatively low-key session, focusing more on long-run pace. The Red Bull driver finished down the order on P10 on hard tyres, leaving questions over the Red Bull’s true performance heading into qualifying, still struggling under the 2026 engine overhaul.
There were also issues for Arvid Lindblad, whose session ended early due to a gearbox problem, while Gabriel Bortoleto had limited running after mechanical trouble.
The session saw a few interruptions, including a brief power issue for Alexander Albon, who was able to return to the pits without major damage. An incident involving Franco Colapinto and Verstappen is also under investigation after the Alpine driver appeared to impede the Red Bull during a push lap. Check full result below:
F1 Japanese Grand Prix FP2 Results:
| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Time / Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 1:30.133 | 29 |
| 2 | 12 | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | +0.092s | 28 |
| 3 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | +0.205s | 29 |
| 4 | 1 | Lando Norris | McLaren | +0.516s | 17 |
| 5 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | +0.713s | 28 |
| 6 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | +0.847s | 27 |
| 7 | 27 | Nico Hülkenberg | Audi | +1.308s | 27 |
| 8 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams | +1.363s | 30 |
| 9 | 87 | Oliver Bearman | Haas F1 Team | +1.365s | 28 |
| 10 | 3 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing | +1.376s | 29 |
| 11 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Haas F1 Team | +1.399s | 30 |
| 12 | 30 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | +1.457s | 31 |
| 13 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | +1.475s | 30 |
| 14 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | +1.601s | 29 |
| 15 | 6 | Isack Hadjar | Red Bull Racing | +1.626s | 29 |
| 16 | 5 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Audi | +1.800s | 11 |
| 17 | 43 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | +2.305s | 28 |
| 18 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Cadillac | +2.482s | 28 |
| 19 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | +3.463s | 24 |
| 20 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Cadillac | +3.556s | 14 |
| 21 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | +3.818s | 21 |
| 22 | 41 | Arvid Lindblad | Racing Bulls | — | 1 |
Japanese Grand Prix FP1 Wrap:
Formula One championship leader George Russell edged out teammate Kimi Antonelli in a Mercedes one-two at the top of the timesheets in Friday’s opening practice session for the Japanese Grand Prix. The Briton set a pace of one minute, 31.666 seconds on a cool and sunny day at the Suzuka track. Antonelli, fired up from his first grand prix triumph at the last race in China, was 0.026 seconds slower. Reigning champion Lando Norris led McLaren’s charge in third place ahead of Australian teammate Oscar Piastri.
Our top three in first practice 👀
1️⃣ Russell
2️⃣ Antonelli
3️⃣ Norris #F1 #JapaneseGP pic.twitter.com/UFQDr2Q5Uu— Formula 1 (@F1) March 27, 2026
The pair were 0.132 seconds and 0.199 seconds off Russell’s pace in an encouraging start to the weekend for the reigning constructors’ champions.Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc ended the session fifth ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton.Russell and Antonelli have both won one Sunday race each but the Briton leads the 19-year-old by four points in the overall standings, having won the season-opener in Australia and also the Saturday sprint in China.The pair, who have locked out the front row in every qualifying session so far, have finished both Sunday races in one-two formation and could hand Mercedes their first hat-trick of season-opening one-two finishes since 2019. Four-times world champion Max Verstappen, winner at Suzuka for the last four years, was seventh for Red Bull, 0.791 seconds off the pace.
Liam Lawson in the Racing Bulls was eighth ahead of Haas racer Esteban Ocon. Rookie Arvid Lindblad in the other Racing Bulls rounded out the top 10.
The session passed without major incident, though Williams driver Alex Albon went off into the gravel at the high-speed Degner corners and later collided with the Cadillac of Mexican Sergio Perez.Norris, who like his teammate Piastri failed to start in China because of electrical issues, spent much of the first half of the session in the garage before setting his headline time.
Aston Martin propped up the timesheets at what is a home event for power unit partners Honda, with Lance Stroll ahead of Jak Crawford, who stood in for Fernando Alonso.
(With Reuters input)
