Max Verstappen was the fastest driver in Practice Two, with a lead of 0.320 seconds over Charles Leclerc. Lewis Hamilton, on the other hand, finished in 14th place. Unfortunately, Pierre Gasly crashed out during the practice session. In Practice One, Verstappen also secured the top spot, leading by 0.626 seconds from Carlos Sainz.
In the Japanese GP, Max Verstappen showed great form by topping both Friday practice sessions. He was the fastest in the first practice by a margin of six tenths of a second and continued his dominance in Practice Two with a time of 1:30.688.
Leclerc from Ferrari reduced the world champion’s lead in the afternoon, finishing 0.320 seconds behind the Red Bull car.
Lando Norris did well in the practice sessions, finishing third in both. He was only 0.464s behind the leader in Practice Two.
“It’s not insignificant, but the gap is not as big as I was fearing it would be and the competition as well,” Sky Sports F1’s Anthony Davidson said, looking ahead to qualifying which takes place at 7am on Saturday, with build-up from 6am on Sky Sports F1.
“My goodness, Max looks like he’s in his element around here.”
Pierre Gasly crashed at the second Degner corner, ending the session two minutes earlier. He was in 19th place, with only Logan Sargeant’s Williams behind him.
Carlos Sainz finished fourth in the Singapore GP race, half a second behind Max Verstappen. George Russell came in fifth.
Lewis Hamilton had a difficult time in his second Mercedes car and finished in 14th place on the time chart. He made a mistake on his first attempt and had to settle for his second flying lap on the soft tire.
Two-time Japanese GP winner and 1996 world champion Damon Hill said: “It could be a closer race than it is in qualifying, from what it appears at the moment.
“Lewis generally comes strong on Saturdays and during the race. He’s out of it at the moment but he’ll be back.”
Sergio Perez was also far behind Verstappen in the second Red Bull. He finished ninth, over a second slower than his teammate.
In the race, the Mexican driver finished behind Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin, Alex Albon’s Williams, and Oscar Piastri’s McLaren. The difference in their lap times was only 0.17 seconds.
Bottas finished 10th for Alfa Romeo, just ahead of Stroll who returned to Aston Martin after missing the Singapore GP.
The gap between Alonso in sixth and Hamilton in 14th was only three tenths of a second. This indicates that the qualifying session on Saturday will be a closely-fought battle to secure a spot in Q3.
Japanese GP Practice Two Timesheet
| Driver | Team | Time |
| 1. Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:30.688 |
| 2. Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | +0.320s |
| 3. Lando Norris | McLaren | +0.464s |
| 4. Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | +0.549s |
| 5. George Russell | Mercedes | +0.640s |
| 6. Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | +0.804s |
| 7. Alex Albon | Williams | +0.867s |
| 8. Oscar Piastri | McLaren | +0.974s |
| 9. Sergio Perez | Red Bull | +1.022s |
| 10. Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo | +1.051s |
| 11. Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | +1.083s |
| 12. Esteban Ocon | Alpine | +1.106s |
| 13. Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | +1.109s |
| 14. Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | +1.141s |
| 15. Liam Lawson | AlphaTauri | +1.453s |
| 16. Zhou Guanyu | Alfa Romeo | +1.477s |
| 17. Kevin Magnussen | Haas | +1.481s |
| 18. Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | +1.490s |
| 19. Pierre Gasly | Alpine | +1.491s |
| 20. Logan Sargeant | Williams | +1.632s |
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