F1 Japanese GP: Oscar Piastri heads Mercedes pair as issues hit Lando Norris in second practice
Oscar Piastri puts McLaren ahead of Mercedes at the end of Friday at the Japanese Grand Prix.
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri outpaced the Mercedes pair of Kimi Antonelli and George Russell in second practice at Formula 1’s Japanese Grand Prix.
Lap times tumbled in the second hour of practice running at Suzuka, with Piastri putting McLaren top of the timesheet for the first time after pipping Antonelli, who claimed his maiden F1 victory last time out in China, by 0.092 seconds.
Early world championship leader Russell, who led a Mercedes one-two in opening practice, was third-fastest, 0.205s down on Piastri’s benchmark in FP2.
World champion Lando Norris was fourth after a hydraulics leak caused him to miss almost half of the session. The McLaren driver ended up 0.516s behind team-mate Piastri on the soft tyres.
Norris has lost one of his three batteries for the 2026 season in a setback to his hopes of defending his world title.
Issues for Norris aside, it has been an encouraging start to the weekend for McLaren after its double DNS disaster in Shanghai.
The Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton were once again fifth and sixth quickest but were well off the pace. Leclerc was 0.713s adrift of Piastri, with seven-time world champion Hamilton a further tenth behind.
Nico Hulkenberg put his Audi seventh ahead of the Williams of Alex Albon and Ollie Bearman’s Haas.
It was another difficult session for Max Verstappen, who ended up 10th for Red Bull and 1.376s off the pace. The four-time world champion’s Red Bull team-mate Isack Hadjar was only 15th-fastest.
Verstappen’s car is sporting a sizeable aerodynamic upgrade including new side pods, floor and engine cover.
Ferrari has also brought upgrades to Suzuka as the Italian outfit looks to chase down Mercedes.
The Cadillacs and Aston Martin once again featured towards the bottom of the times, while gearbox problems curtailed F1 rookie Arvid Lindblad, who had to watch most of FP2 from the Racing Bulls pitwall.
Alpine's Franco Colapinto has been called to see the stewards for weaving ahead of Verstappen when the Dutchman was on a fast lap.
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