Max Verstappen made it a Friday sweep as he led the way in Practice 2 at the Japanese Grand Prix.
The Red Bull driver once again set the pace from his first flying lap in the second session at Suzuka, ultimately ending three-tenths clear of Charles Leclerc in second.
Lando Norris would split the two Ferraris in third for McLaren, while Mercedes had a tricky day with George Russell the highest placed in fifth.
FP2 began with Verstappen wasting little time in heading out on soft tyres and beating his FP1 benchmark on a 1m31.3s.
Focus shifting to the longer runs 💪 our boys still sit near the top of the order 👌 @Charles_Leclerc P2@Carlossainz55 P4 #JapaneseGP 🇯🇵 #F1 pic.twitter.com/31Jf6SgXrl
— Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) September 22, 2023
Ferrari settled in second and third on the mediums just three-tenths behind in the case of Leclerc.
Williams showed their prolific straight-line speed by going fastest in the final sector as both Logan Sargeant and Alex Albon featured in the top 10 early on.
Mercedes also did their first soft tyre runs of the weekend with George Russell going third briefly.
Norris then put McLaren on top, beating Verstappen's initial time by two-tenths, before Leclerc went a further tenth quicker in the Ferrari.
Max though bolted on a second set of soft tyres and improved to go fastest by three-tenths on a 1m30.688s.
Carlos Sainz sat fourth as Russell slipped to fifth. Fernando Alonso was sixth ahead of Albon in seventh.
“We’re actually in a good place, I’m happy with the car” 🗣️
— Williams Racing (@WilliamsRacing) September 22, 2023
Albono checks in from P3 💪 pic.twitter.com/LkIraHeXn6
Oscar Piastri claimed P8 with Sergio Perez a full second behind Verstappen in ninth. Valtteri Bottas completed the top 10 for Alfa Romeo.
Lance Stroll was 11th followed by Esteban Ocon and Nico Hulkenberg in 13th. Lewis Hamilton only finished 14th after an impeded first run meant his best time came on tyres that were past their peak.
Liam Lawson followed in 15th only 0.037s faster than teammate Yuki Tsunoda, but three places higher than the Japanese driver in 18th.
Zhou Guanyu was 16th but had his session ended early by a hydraulic problem with his brakes.
Kevin Magnussen was 17th, then Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly, who ended FP2 two minutes early after crashing at Degner 2, in 19th.
A minor error, but a big job for Alpine this evening 💥#JapaneseGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/z9lPIyfB4Q
— Formula 1 (@F1) September 22, 2023
Sargeant, despite the fastest final sector of anyone, was slowest for Williams.
