Image: from This is Formula 1 X @ThisIsFormu1a1
By Open Chronicle Staff with Agencies
SUZUKA, Japan – Oscar Piastri signaled a resurgence for McLaren on Friday afternoon, setting the fastest time in the second free practice session for the Japanese Grand Prix. The Australian’s benchmark lap disrupted what had been a morning of total Mercedes dominance, edging out Kimi Antonelli in a session marked by reliability scares and a shifting competitive order.
Piastri’s lap of 1m30.133s on the soft-compound Pirelli tires was enough to beat Antonelli by a narrow margin of 0.092s. Championship leader George Russell, who led a Mercedes 1-2 in the opening session, completed the top three, finishing two-tenths of a second adrift of the McLaren.
The session was far from straightforward for the Woking-based squad. Lando Norris spent the first 23 minutes confined to the garage as mechanics investigated a suspected hydraulics issue, a worrying echo of the double-retirement that sidelined the team at the previous round in Shanghai. Once on track, the reigning world champion managed to climb to fourth, though he ended the hour half a second behind his teammate after a snap of oversteer at the final chicane compromised his best flying lap.
Ferrari remained in the hunt but appeared unable to challenge the top three for pure one-lap pace. Charles Leclerc finished fifth, reporting traffic issues on his qualifying simulation, while Lewis Hamilton took sixth. Hamilton later admitted to a lack of “confidence” in the car during the closing stages of the session, suggesting the Scuderia has significant setup work ahead of Saturday’s qualifying.
Red Bull’s difficult start to the weekend continued as Max Verstappen struggled with excessive understeer. The Dutchman finished 10th fastest, nearly 1.4 seconds off Piastri’s pace, and abandoned his final soft-tyre run to make setup changes. Verstappen’s afternoon was further complicated by an incident at 130R, where he was impeded by a slow-moving Franco Colapinto; the Alpine driver was subsequently summoned to the stewards for “driving erratically.”
Elsewhere, Nico Hülkenberg impressed for Audi by securing the seventh-fastest time, while Williams’ Alex Albon overcame a mid-session scare, briefly stopping on track before continuing to finish eighth.
The back of the field saw the return of Fernando Alonso, who arrived late in Japan following the birth of his first child. Taking over from reserve driver Jak Crawford, the Spaniard finished 17th as he worked to acclimatize to the AMR26. Meanwhile, Sergio Perez’s debut Friday with Cadillac remained hampered by the floor damage sustained in his FP1 collision with Albon; the Mexican missed the first half of the session and could only manage 18th.
As the sun set over the Suzuka Circuit, the hierarchy for the third round of the season remained fluid. While Mercedes remains the team to beat on long-run pace, Piastri’s late flyer has injected fresh hope into a McLaren team desperate to kickstart its 2026 title defense.
1) Oscar Piastri (McLaren/Mercedes) 1’30.133 – 28
2) Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) 1’30.225 – 26
3) George Russell (Mercedes) 1’30.338 – 28
4) Lando Norris (McLaren/Mercedes) 1’30.649 – 16
5) Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 1’30.846 – 27
6) Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) 1’30.980 – 25
7) Nico Hülkenberg (Audi) 1’31.441 – 26
8) Alexander Albon (Williams/Mercedes) 1’31.496 – 29
9) Oliver Bearman (Haas/Ferrari) 1’31.498 – 26
10) Max Verstappen (Red Bull/Red Bull Ford) 1’31.509 – 28
11) Esteban Ocon (Haas/Ferrari) 1’31.532 – 28
12) Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls/Red Bull Ford) 1’31.590 – 29
13) Carlos Sainz (Williams/Mercedes) 1’31.608 – 28
14) Pierre Gasly (Alpine/Mercedes) 1’31.734 – 28
15) Isack Hadjar (Red Bull/Red Bull Ford) 1’31.759 – 27
16) Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi) 1’31.933 – 10
17) Franco Colapinto (Alpine/Mercedes) 1’32.438 – 27
18) Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac/Ferrari) 1’32.615 – 27
19) Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin/Honda) 1’33.596 – 24
20) Sergio Pérez (Cadillac/Ferrari) 1’33.689 – 13
21) Lance Stroll (Aston Martin/Honda) 1’33.951 – 21
22) Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls/Red Bull Ford) – without time