Dramatic Practice Session at Suzuka Sees Multiple Stoppages

The second practice session for the Japanese Grand Prix turned chaotic as four red flags interrupted running at the legendary Suzuka Circuit. McLaren's rising star Oscar Piastri emerged fastest with a late flyer of 1:28.114, narrowly edging out teammate Lando Norris in an incident-filled afternoon.

Session Disruptions and Grass Fires

The drama began early when Alpine's Jack Doohan crashed heavily at Turn 1 just seven minutes into the session. The Australian rookie lost control of his car, sliding across the gravel before impacting the barrier. Medical staff attended to the shaken driver, who fortunately walked away unharmed.

After a 22-minute delay, cars returned only to see another red flag when Fernando Alonso beached his Aston Martin in the gravel trap. The real spectacle came when not one, but two separate grass fires broke out along the circuit, both likely caused by sparks from passing cars igniting dry vegetation.

McLaren Shows Strong Pace

Between the disruptions, McLaren continued their impressive Friday form:

• Piastri (P1 FP2): 1:28.114
• Norris (P2 FP2): +0.088s

The Woking-based team appears to have maintained their momentum from Piastri's victory in China, though the true competitive picture remains unclear due to limited representative running.

Other Notable Performances

• Racing Bulls' rookie Isack Hadjar impressed with P3 in FP2
• Yuki Tsunoda (P6 FP1) delighted home fans in his first race since Red Bull promotion
• Max Verstappen struggled with understeer, finishing P8 in FP2

What This Means for Qualifying

With so many disrupted laps, teams face significant setup headaches heading into final practice and qualifying. The unusual conditions left drivers with:

1. Limited long-run data
2. Incomplete tire evaluations
3. Unanswered questions about true pace

The Suzuka circuit, known for its demanding nature, may yet spring more surprises as the weekend progresses.

Session times (FP2 top 5):

1. Piastri (McLaren) - 1:28.114
2. Norris (McLaren) - +0.088
3. Hadjar (Racing Bulls) - +0.488
4. Pérez (Red Bull) - +0.521
5. Lawson (Racing Bulls) - +0.549