Piastri topples Mercedes in second practice for Japanese Grand Prix
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri set the fastest lap of the second practice session for the 2026 FIA Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix, beating Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli by just under a tenth of a second as George Russell finished third in the other Mercedes car.
Piastri was on the pace from the start of the session as drivers headed out on a mix of Medium and Hard compound tyres. The Australian, who has yet to complete a racing lap in 2026 after two difficult opening weekends, stole P1 from early pacesetter Russell, and though he then ceded the position to a succession of improvers including Antonelli and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, the Australian was never far away.
And when the field switched to red-banded C3 compound Pirellis for qualifying simulations ahead of the halfway mark Piastri moved ahead. His first run netted a time of 1:30.133s and that proved too much for the nine-time grand prix winner’s rivals.
Antonelli got closest. The Italian teenager also posted his best time on his first Soft tyre run but in the end his lap of 1:30.225 left him 0.092s off Piastri. It did, however, put him 0.113s ahead of team-mate Russell who took third ahead of defending world champion Lando Norris.
Norris’ P4 was a good recovery at the end of a frustrating session. The champion missed most of the opening half hour with a hydraulics leak on his MCL40 and after jumping to P6 with his first time on Mediums and then fourth on Softs as he barrelled through a compressed plan.
Norris ended the session just over 0.516s off his team-mate, while Leclerc completed the top five for Ferrari with a lap of 1:30.846. Ferrari had taken P5 and P6 in the first session and it did so again, with Lewis Hamilton claiming sixth just over a tenth of a second behind his team-mate.
Alex Albon have Williams hope of a positive weekend with eighth place ahead of Haas’ Ollie Bearman but there was less to cheer about for Max Versrappen who rounded out the top 10 order.
The four-time champion was unhappy with his car throughout Friday but in the second session the issues seemed to pile up as he complained about “unreal understeer” as well as problematic upshifts and downshifts. The Dutchman’s team-mate Isack Hadjar was similarly critical of his RB22, and the French driver ended up 0.250 off his team-mate and down in P15.
Arvid Lindblad was the only driver who failed to set a lap, as the Racing Bulls rookie left his garage early on but quickly returned to his team’s garage with a gearbox issue.
2026 FIA Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix – Free Practice 2
1 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:30.133 28 231.937
2 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:30.225 0.092 26 231.700
3 George Russell Mercedes 1:30.338 0.205 28 231.410
4 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:30.649 0.516 16 230.616
5 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:30.846 0.713 27 230.116
6 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:30.980 0.847 25 229.777
7 Nico Hülkenberg Audi 1:31.441 1.308 26 228.619
8 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:31.496 1.363 29 228.482
9 Oliver Bearman Haas/Ferrari 1:31.498 1.365 26 228.477
10 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Red Bull Ford 1:31.509 1.376 28 228.449
11 Esteban Ocon Haas/Ferrari 1:31.532 1.399 28 228.392
12 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls/Red Bull Ford 1:31.590 1.457 29 228.247
13 Carlos Sainz Williams/Mercedes 1:31.608 1.475 28 228.202
14 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Mercedes 1:31.734 1.601 28 227.889
15 Isack Hadjar Red Bull/Red Bull Ford 1:31.759 1.626 27 227.827
16 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi 1:31.933 1.800 10 227.396
17 Franco Colapinto Alpine/Mercedes 1:32.438 2.305 27 226.153
18 Valtteri Bottas Cadillac/Ferrari 1:32.615 2.482 27 225.721
19 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Honda 1:33.596 3.463 24 223.355
20 Sergio Pérez Cadillac/Ferrari 1:33.689 3.556 12 223.133
21 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Honda 1:33.951 3.818 20 222.51
22 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls/Red Bull Ford - 1
Mercedes drivers top opening practice in Japan ahead of McLaren and Ferrari
George Russell went two hundredths of a second quicker than Mercedes’ team-mate Kimi Antonelli to hand the Silver Arrows a 1-2 in opening practice for the 2026 FIA Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix. It was two-by-two in Suzuka with the Mercedes pair followed on the timesheet by McLaren’s Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri and the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton.
Russell led the early running at Suzuka with a lap of 1:32.429 set on C1 Hard compound Pirelli tyres. Then when the field began to move to C3 Soft tyres, the Mercedes pair stretched ahead, with Russell posting a time of 1:31.755 to clear Antonelli by four tenths of a second. The Italian teenager was finding time on the C3 tyres and at the halfway mark he got down to 1:31.692 to take top spot.
Russell was also getting into a groove, however, and the championship leader then posted a lap of 1:31.666 to eclipse his team-mate by just 0.026s. Both times stood to the end of the session.
The Mercedes pair were followed by the McLarens of Norris and Piastri. The former ended a solid session 0.132s off Russell’s time, while Piastri also looked quick getting to within 0.199s of Russell as McLaren looks to recover from a double DNS last time out in China.
With the order stratifying, the Mercedes and McLaren drivers were followed by the Ferrari pair. Leclerc finished 0.289 off Russell with Hamilton another 0.085s behind as the top six were covered by just under four tenths of a second.
Behind them came two Red Bull Ford-powered cars, but it was Max Verstappen in seventh for Red Bull Racing ahead of stablemate Liam Lawson in the Racing Bulls VCARB02.
Verstappen, and team-mate Isack Hadjar, were unhappy with their cars throughout the session, with both drivers complaining about downshifts and balance on the RB22. Verstappen ended the session almost eight tenths of a second off pacesetter Russell.
Lawson got his weekend off to a good start with P8 for Racing Bulls, with the New Zealander 0.072s behind Verstappen and the same margin ahead of Haas’ Esteban Ocon. Lawson’s team-mate Arvid Lindblad rounded out the top ten as the last man within a second of Russell, with the British teenage ending the opening practice session 0.999 off the Mercedes driver.
The session was without major incident, but it was also not smooth for a number of drivers, most notably Wiliams’ Alex Albon. The Thai racer almost crashed, losing control at the Degner Curves. He fishtailed through the thin gravel trap and slapped the barriers but was able to continue on.
The Thai racer was later involved in messy collision with Cadillac’s Sergio Pérez. Albon went to pass the Mexican into the chicane, but the Cadillac driver didn’t see him and Albon ended up with a damaged front wing.
Aston Martin, meanwhile, had another tricky session. Reserve driver Jak Crawford, in for Fernando Alonso, completed just 11 laps with the Honda-powered car as he propped up the timesheet. Team-mate Lance Stroll finished in P21 3.6 seconds off the pace.
2026 Japanese Grand Prix – Free Practice 1
1 George Russell Mercedes 1:31.666 26 228.058
2 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:31.692 0.026 26 227.993
3 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:31.798 0.132 20 227.730
4 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:31.865 0.199 23 227.564
5 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:31.955 0.289 25 227.341
6 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:32.040 0.374 23 227.131
7 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Red Bull Ford 1:32.457 0.791 27 226.107
8 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls/Red Bull Ford 1:32.529 0.863 27 225.931
9 Esteban Ocon Haas/Ferrari 1:32.601 0.935 23 225.755
10 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls/Red Bull Ford 1:32.665 0.999 29 225.599
11 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi 1:32.759 1.093 27 225.371
12 Nico Hülkenberg Audi 1:32.798 1.132 26 225.276
13 Isack Hadjar Red Bull/Red Bull Ford 1:32.803 1.137 27 225.264
14 Oliver Bearman Haas/Ferrari 1:32.900 1.234 27 225.029
15 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Mercedes 1:32.978 1.312 25 224.840
16 Franco Colapinto Alpine/Mercedes 1:33.361 1.695 24 223.917
17 Carlos Sainz Williams/Mercedes 1:33.383 1.717 26 223.865
18 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:33.697 2.031 22 223.114
19 Sergio Pérez Cadillac/Ferrari 1:34.221 2.555 18 221.874
20 Valtteri Bottas Cadillac/Ferrari 1:34.490 2.824 24 221.242
21 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Honda 1:35.294 3.628 21 219.375
22 Jak Crawford Aston Martin/Honda 1:36.362 4.696 11 216.944
