FP2: Piastri sets the pace as Doohan crashes amid disrupted second practice in Japan

Oscar Piastri ended Friday on top at the Japanese Grand Prix by going fastest during a Free Practice 2 that was disrupted by several red flags, with the first stoppage coming after a heavy crash for Alpine’s Jack Doohan.

After Lando Norris set the pace during FP1 earlier in the day – in a session that also saw home favourite Yuki Tsunoda make his debut for Red Bull – the drivers returned to action for the second hour of practice at 1500 local time amid dry and sunny conditions at the Suzuka Circuit.

FP1: Norris tops first Japanese GP practice as Tsunoda debuts for Red Bull

Doohan was amongst the first to hit the track – having handed his Alpine over to Ryo Hirakawa during the opening practice session – while there were early concerns for Carlos Sainz, the Williams driver reporting something “wrong” with his FW47 before returning to the pits.

But there was worse to come for Doohan, the Australian suffering a high-speed crash at Turn 1 less than 10 minutes into FP2 to bring out the red flags. While he fortunately reported that he was okay, the incident left behind significant debris as well as damage to the barriers, leading to a lengthy recovery operation by the marshals.

Ahead of the session resuming at 1530 local time – meaning that just 30 minutes were left on the clock – a queue of cars had formed in the pit lane, all keen to get more mileage in after losing nearly 20 minutes from their programmes.

This led to a mixture of run plans, with the likes of Tsunoda and Lance Stroll already bolting on the soft tyres while others stuck with the hard or medium compound. But there was further disruption just a few minutes on when Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin became beached at Turn 8, the Spaniard having gone wide after dipping a wheel on the grass.

HIGHLIGHTS: Watch the action from Japan as Norris tops FP1 from Russell while Tsunoda impresses

The action got going again with just under 20 minutes remaining, leading to most of the pack running the soft compound to ensure that their Qualifying simulations had been completed in what had become a shortened session.

There was immediately some action at the pit exit as George Russell made an overtake before kicking up some dust as he looked to potentially make a move on Max Verstappen, though the Briton subsequently opted to stay behind the Red Bull.

The order on the timesheets continued to change as plenty of fast laps went on the board, with Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar catching the eye by going fastest before McLaren’s Norris displaced the youngster.

Running came to a brief halt when a third red flag was thrown owing to a small fire at the side of the track, before the session got underway again with around seven minutes to go – and it was Piastri who edged out team mate Norris to end the session on top, the Australian’s effort of 1m 28.114s putting him 0.049s clear of the other McLaren as another red flag fell in the closing moments following a second small fire.

Hadjar held onto third, ahead of Lewis Hamilton in the Ferrari and Racing Bulls’ returnee Liam Lawson. Russell followed in sixth as Mercedes look for another strong weekend, while Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, Verstappen, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Sainz completed a slightly mixed-up top 10.

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The other Williams of Alex Albon slotted into 11th, ahead of the Kick Sauber duo of Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto and Haas pairing Esteban Ocon and Ollie Bearman respectively.

Kimi Antonelli claimed P16 for Mercedes – with the Italian and his team mate both having abandoned their soft tyre runs, leaving them without representative times on the board – while Alonso, Tsunoda, Stroll and Doohan rounded out the order, with Alonso and Doohan both having been unable to return to action after their incidents.

With Friday’s running now complete, the drivers and teams will look over their data before returning to the Suzuka Circuit for the third and final practice session on Saturday at 1130 local time, ahead of Qualifying later in the afternoon.