Hamilton RESURGENCE continues as rain tumbles down at Suzuka

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, Japan, 2024, Social — Photo: © IMAGO

Japanese Grand Prix

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Hamilton RESURGENCE continues as rain tumbles down at Suzuka

A quick look at who topped the timesheets in the opening practice session from Suzuka...

Shay Rogers

Friday 5 April 2024 09:37 Updated: 10:32

Oscar Piastri surprisingly led the way after a heavily rain disrupted FP2 session saw very little running at the Japanese Grand Prix.

An eerie silence covered the Suzuka circuit for 80% of the second practice session before some drivers decided to tiptoe around the track towards the end of the hour.

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Lewis Hamilton continued an impressive recovery from a poor start to the season, placing inside the top four for a second consecutive session in Japan.

Despite a purple sector, he failed to beat Oscar Piastri by five tenths as he ended up in second place but placing in the top two is better than Mercedes have come close to showing in any of the three grands prix so far this season.

Stop-start rain frustrated the pit-lane for a while, with a tricky median between wet and dry running making it too risky for most teams to do any meaningful running - and therefore making Saturday's FP3 session all the more important.

F1 FP2 Results: Japanese Grand Prix 2024

1. Oscar Piastri [McLaren] - 1:34.725s

2. Lewis Hamilton [Mercedes] - +0.501sec

3. Charles Leclerc [Ferrari] - +4.035sec

4. Yuki Tsunoda [VCARB] - +6.221sec

5. Daniel Ricciardo [VCARB] - +7.188sec

6. Lando Norris [McLaren] - +10.252sec

7. Carlos Sainz [Ferrari] - +17.854sec

8. Nico Hulkenberg [Haas] - +24.388sec

9. Valtteri Bottas [Kick Sauber] - +55.747sec

10. Esteban Ocon [Alpine] - No time set

11. Zhou Guanyu [Kick Sauber] - No time set

12. Alex Albon [Williams] - No time set

13. Kevin Magnussen [Haas] - No time set

14. Max Verstappen [Red Bull] - No time set

15. Logan Sargeant [Williams] - No time set

16. Pierre Gasly [Alpine] - No time set

17. Sergio Perez [Red Bull] - No time set

18. Fernando Alonso [Aston Martin] - No time set

19. Lance Stroll [Aston Martin] - No time set

20. George Russell [Mercedes] - No time set

Japanese Grand Prix FP1

Red Bull responded to their poor result last time out in Melbourne in immediate fashion by topping the first practice session of the Japanese Grand Prix with a one-two finish at the top of the pack.

Spurred on by some new upgrades, Max Verstappen led team-mate Sergio Perez by two tenths, with Carlos Sainz clipping their heels in third place after nearly matching his Mexican rival.

Mercedes started the weekend on the right foot after a devastating double DNF last time out, with George Russell and Lewis Hamilton both inside the top five at a track which their drivers love to go well on.

Hamilton - whose engine suffered a catastrophic failure, which cannot be fixed at the Australian Grand Prix, is using a new power unit in Suzuka which fired him to fifth place in a big improvement for the Silver Arrows in the early showing.

Home favourite Yuki Tsunoda ended the session in ninth place for Visa Cash App RB while fellow countryman and FP1 debutant Ayumu Iwasa finished in 16th place.

McLaren appear to be waiting to deploy their pace, after Oscar Piastri ended the session in eighth ahead of Lando Norris in tenth.

F1 FP1 Results: Japanese Grand Prix 2024

1. Max Verstappen [Red Bull] - 1:30.056s

2. Sergio Perez [Red Bull] - +0.181sec

3. Carlos Sainz [Ferrari] - + 0.213sec

4. George Russell [Mercedes] - +0.474sec

5. Lewis Hamilton [Mercedes] - +0.487sec

6. Charles Leclerc [Ferrari] - +0.502sec

7. Fernando Alonso [Aston Martin] - +0.543sec

8. Oscar Piastri [McLaren] - +1.109sec

9. Yuki Tsunoda [VCARB] - +1.174sec

10. Lando Norris [McLaren] - +1.184sec

11. Esteban Ocon [Alpine] - +1.879sec

12. Alex Albon [Williams] - +1.887sec

13. Nico Hulkenberg [Haas] - +1.902sec

14. Valtteri Bottas [Kick Sauber] - +1.998sec

15. Lance Stroll [Aston Martin] - +1.999sec

16. Ayumu Iwasa [VCARB] - +2.047sec

17. Pierre Gasly [Alpine] - +2.221sec

18. Zhou Guanyu [Kick Sauber] - +2.582sec

19. Kevin Magnussen [Haas] - +2.747sec

20. Logan Sargeant [Williams] - +3.148sec

Is there Formula 1 today?

Today, Formula 1 heads to Suzuka for the first day of action at the Japanese Grand Prix. We have two sessions today, with FP1 having started at 3.30am BST or 4.30am CEST (11.30am local time) and FP2 kicking off from 7.00am BST or 8am CEST (3pm local time).