George Russell led the way for Mercedes as the Silver Arrows claimed a 1-2 finish in a second wet practice session for the 2022 FIA Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix. Drivers’ Championship leader Max Verstappen was third quickest ahead of Red Bull team-mate Sergio Pérez.
FP2 at Suzuka had been extended to 90 minutes to accommodate testing of 2023 Pirelli tyre compounds but with the test tyre being slick the session effectively became an opportunity for more running on wet and intermediate tyres. However, with the circuit still very wet due to the steadily falling rain, the early stages of the session were muted.
Williams’ Nicholas Latifi went out after five minutes on full wets but was forced to take an escape road after he suffered an issue. Carlos Sainz set the first proper time of the afternoon after 12 minutes with a lap of 1:49.615. And with most drivers content to wait it out until conditions improved the Ferrari driver’s time stood as the benchmark until a third of the way through the session. It was Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton who took over at the top, the seven-time champion setting a new P1 time of 1:49.489 on full wets.
Russell then bolted on a set of intermediate tyres and with conditions improving lowered the benchmark to 1:45.197 before Hamilton returned to the track and responded with a lap of 1:44.298s.
Verstappen finally joined the action with a little over 50 minutes remaining and the Red Bull driver immediately vaulted to the top of the timesheet with a lap of 1:43.571, before finding more time on a second flyer of 1:43.137.
It wasn’t as comfortable for Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. The Monegasque driver ventured out at the same time as Verstappen but he went off at Turn 11 on his out-lap and complained of poor feeling with the car throughout the session.
Russell then went out again and this time the Mercedes man managed to drop down to 1:41.935 on intermediate to beat Verstappen by more than eight tenths of a second. Hamilton, too, edged ahead of the Dutchman to the tune of six tenths of a second.
Pérez took fourth place for Red Bull with Haas’ Kevin Magnussen fifth ahead of Sainz, while Alpine’s Fernando Alonso was seventh ahead of Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas, Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and the second Alfa of Zhou Guanyu. Leclerc finished 11th.
Mick Schumacher failed to run during the session owing to a chassis change following a crash at the end of FP1.
2022 FIA Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix – Free Practice 2
1 George Russell Mercedes 1:41.935 23 205.083
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:42.170 0.235 22 204.611
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:42.786 0.851 24 203.385
4 Sergio Pérez Red Bull 1:42.834 0.899 26 203.290
5 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1:43.187 1.252 17 202.595
6 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:43.204 1.269 23 202.561
7 Fernando Alonso Alpine/Renault 1:43.533 1.598 14 201.918
8 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:43.733 1.798 20 201.528
9 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1:43.884 1.949 13 201.235
10 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:44.525 2.590 17 200.001
11 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:44.709 2.774 10 199.650
12 Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes 1:44.962 3.027 16 199.169
13 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:45.039 3.104 15 199.023
14 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri/Red Bull 1:45.257 3.322 27 198.611
15 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:45.261 3.326 24 198.603
16 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:45.885 3.950 11 197.433
17 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren/Mercedes 1:46.030 4.095 9 197.163
18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:46.776 4.841 21 195.785
19 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Red Bull 11:47.109 5.174 13 195.176
