Formula 1 drivers did little meaningful running in the second practice session at Suzuka as damp conditions meant they covered few if any laps.
With several drivers not wishing to use up their limited dry tyres in damp conditions, there were no representative lap times set over the hour.
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri set the fastest time out of the nine drivers to complete a timed lap. Seven drivers, including both Red Bulls and Aston Martins, did not leave the garage at all.
Another driver who did not leave the garage was Logan Sargeant, for a different reason. The heavy damage sustained to his Williams in the opening practice session meant he was never going to take part in the session. However, team mate Alexander Albon also did not set a timed lap throughout the hour.
While the conditions remained safe enough for drivers to run, no one chose to push either on intermediates or on slick tyres. Piastri’s 1’34.725 was the quickest time of the hour, but significantly slower than Max Verstappen’s best from the earlier session.
Lewis Hamilton was half a second slower than Piastri with soft tyres, while Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc was third fastest, four seconds slower than Piastri’s best. The RB pairing of Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo were the highest placed drivers to have set their best times on the intermediate tyres, in fourth and fifth respectively, while Lando Norris was sixth for McLaren.
Australian Grand Prix winner Carlos Sainz Jnr was seventh for Ferrari ahead of Esteban Ocon and Kevin Magnussen in nithh. The two Sauber drivers, Zhou Guanyu and Valtteri Bottas, Williams’ Albon and Nico Hulkenberg all had multiple runs but did not complete a timed lap throughout the session.
Weather forecasts currently indicate a maximum 20% chance of rain for Saturday. There is a higher 40% risk for rain to impact Sunday’s race day, however the forecasters appear to have reduced the likelihood of rain compared what was expected heading into the weekend.
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2024 Japanese Grand Prix second practice result
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2024 Japanese Grand Prix
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