- Piastri leads McLaren to the top in Japanese GP FP2, shaking up the order.
- Norris loses 23 minutes to a hydraulics scare; Max Verstappen struggles.
- Franco Colapinto faces a stewards’ summons after impeding Verstappen.
Oscar Piastri put McLaren on top in second practice at the Japanese GP on Friday, delivering a calm and controlled performance at Suzuka. His best lap of 1m30.133s on soft tyres was enough to edge Kimi Antonelli by 0.092 seconds, with George Russell a further tenth behind in third.
The result marked a shift from the morning session, where Mercedes had set the pace. As track temperatures rose in the afternoon, McLaren found another level, with Piastri timing his soft-tyre run to perfection.
As it happened in Japanese GP FP2
McLaren’s session did not begin smoothly. Lando Norris spent the opening 23 minutes in the garage while the team investigated a suspected hydraulics issue, raising concerns after the team’s recent reliability trouble in China.
He eventually returned to the track and climbed to fourth, finishing 0.516s behind Piastri despite a snap at the final chicane on his quickest lap.
Ferrari again featured but did not challenge for the top positions. Charles Leclerc finished fifth after traffic compromised one of his laps, while Lewis Hamilton took sixth.
Hamilton sounded uneasy during long runs, telling his engineer, “I am very slow because I have no confidence in the car,” a worrying sign at a circuit that demands full commitment through high-speed corners.
Red Bull once again endured a difficult session. Max Verstappen could manage only 10th, nearly 1.4 seconds off the pace, and repeatedly complained of understeer over the radio.
He returned to the pits several times as the team searched for answers. Isack Hadjar’s 15th place, more than a second and a half down, suggested the issues are rooted in the car rather than driver performance.
An incident involving Franco Colapinto added tension midway through the session.
The Alpine driver weaved along the back straight while warming his tyres and impeded Verstappen, who was forced to abandon a push lap. The stewards noted Colapinto for erratic driving, and both drivers were summoned after the session.
Several teams faced reliability setbacks. Arvid Lindblad did not set a time due to a gearbox issue, while Gabriel Bortoleto lost early running as Audi worked on his power unit.
At Williams, Alex Albon encountered traffic during a hot lap in the Esses and reacted over the radio, saying, “What is that guy doing? That is dangerous!” He later suffered a brief loss of power at Turn 1 before resetting the system and continuing.
There was also a pit lane scare when Pierre Gasly was released into Albon’s path, prompting an immediate apology from his engineer.
Elsewhere, Sergio Perez’s running was limited as Cadillac repaired floor damage from his FP1 incident with Albon.
Fernando Alonso returned to the cockpit after missing the morning session following the birth of his first child. However, Aston Martin’s struggles continued, with Alonso finishing 19th and Lance Stroll at the bottom of the times among those who set a lap.
The big picture heading into Saturday
Friday’s running points to a close fight at the front heading into qualifying. McLaren and Mercedes appear evenly matched over one lap, while Ferrari remains within reach but still searching for a small gain to join the battle for pole.
Norris’s pace on medium tyres, despite limited track time, underlined McLaren’s potential across different conditions. The team’s main concern now is reliability, as it looks to avoid a repeat of earlier setbacks.
Mercedes will need to respond on Saturday after McLaren’s clear step forward at Suzuka. Ferrari’s task is more precise, finding the final tenths needed to turn consistent top-six pace into a genuine qualifying challenge.
For Red Bull, the situation is more urgent. The car’s balance issues left both drivers struggling, and the team heads into Saturday needing rapid improvements to avoid being stuck in the midfield.
Full FP2 results, 2026 Japanese GP
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time / Gap |
| 1 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 1:30.133 |
| 2 | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | +0.092s |
| 3 | George Russell | Mercedes | +0.205s |
| 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren | +0.516s |
| 5 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | +0.713s |
| 6 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | +0.847s |
| 7 | Nico Hulkenberg | Audi | +1.308s |
| 8 | Alexander Albon | Williams | +1.363s |
| 9 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | +1.365s |
| 10 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing | +1.376s |
| 11 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | +1.399s |
| 12 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | +1.457s |
| 13 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | +1.475s |
| 14 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | +1.601s |
| 15 | Isack Hadjar | Red Bull Racing | +1.626s |
| 16 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Audi | +1.800s |
| 17 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | +2.305s |
| 18 | Valtteri Bottas | Cadillac | +2.482s |
| 19 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | +3.463s |
| 20 | Sergio Perez | Cadillac | +3.556s |
| 21 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | +3.818s |
| NC | Arvid Lindblad | Racing Bulls | No time |
As the cars returned to the garages and the light began to fade at Suzuka, the order looked less certain than it had just hours earlier.
McLaren had taken the lead, but with questions still hanging over reliability and balance across the field, Saturday remains wide open.
