Japanese GP: Chaotic Practice Two Session at Suzuka

Oscar Piastri finished fastest in a disrupted second practice session at the Japanese Grand Prix, which saw four red flags.

Piastri was slightly ahead of his McLaren teammate Lando Norris, who is leading the Drivers` Championship. McLaren demonstrated strong performance early in the weekend. However, the session was heavily interrupted, with only 20 minutes of actual track time out of the scheduled 60 minutes due to the red flags.

Jack Doohan, who was substituting Ryo Hirakawa in this session, crashed heavily at the first corner. He lost control at high speed and hit the barrier, causing significant damage to his car, including the loss of two wheels.

It appeared initially that Doohan`s car bottomed out, but replays showed his DRS was still open, which should usually be closed before braking for Turn 1.

Alpine reported that the 22-year-old Doohan was `ok` after a check-up at the medical center. He was helped out of his car, and the session was delayed for about 20 minutes while the barriers were repaired.

Shortly after the session restarted, Fernando Alonso, a two-time world champion, made a rare mistake due to windy conditions. His Aston Martin spun at Turn 8 and got stuck in the gravel, causing another red flag.

After a brief period of running, where Piastri narrowly outperformed Norris, the session was red-flagged for a third time. Grass beside the track caught fire, likely ignited by sparks from the cars` underfloor.

The session was red flagged for a fourth time and concluded early due to the grass reigniting.

Similar to the first practice where Norris was fastest, McLaren seemed to have a pace advantage over other teams for single-lap performance.

Isack Hadjar finished third, showing promising speed for Racing Bulls, and Liam Lawson was fifth in his return to the team.

Max Verstappen was only eighth, while Yuki Tsunoda was 18th, both struggling to get a clean lap in the chaotic session.

Lewis Hamilton was fourth for Ferrari, ahead of Charles Leclerc in seventh, as Ferrari works to resolve setup issues from the start of the season.

George Russell from Mercedes, who was second in the first practice, finished sixth.

Japanese GP Practice Two Timesheet