After Free Practice 1 led by Fernando Alonso in the rain at Suzuka, the second practice session began with very similar conditions. For this FP2, the teams were scheduled to test the Pirelli compounds for 2023 and therefore its duration increased from 60 to 90 minutes, but rainfall forced the test to be canceled, although the 30 extra minutes of training were not subtracted from the stopwatch.
In this way, at the end of the hour and a half of Free Practice 2, again with great prominence of the extreme rain and intermediate tires, George Russell set the best time and led the unexpected double of Mercedes with a 1: 41.935, ahead by Lewis Hamilton.
Behind the star team drivers, Max Verstappen and Sergio Pérez put Red Bull in third and fourth position respectively, with Kevin Magnussen fifth. While the two Spanish drivers on the grid, Carlos Sainz and Alonso, lined up sixth and seventh.
The Alfa Romeos of Valtteri Bottas and Guanyu Zhou finished eighth and tenth, with the Alpine of Estaban Ocon sandwiched between them. Behind, Charles Leclerc was 11th, much further back than expected.
At the gates of the top 10 were also the two Williams drivers, while the negative note, although not yet worrying, was given by the Aston Martin and the McLaren, combined between fifteenth and eighteenth position. Mick Schumacher couldn’t even go out to roll after the accident suffered at the end of FP1.
Results of Free Practice 2 (FP2) of the Japanese GP 2022 F1
| Cla | Pilot | laps | Weather | Difference | Interval | Km/h | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  George Russell |
 |
23 | 1’41.935 | 205.083 | ||
| 2 | Lewis Hamilton |
|
22 | 1’42.170 | 0.235 | 0.235 | 204.611 |
| 3 |  Max Verstappen |
 |
24 | 1’42.786 | 0.851 | 0.616 | 203.385 |
| 4 |  Sergio Perez |
 |
26 | 1,42,834 | 0.899 | 0.048 | 203,290 |
| 5 |  Kevin Magnussen |
 |
17 | 1’43.187 | 1.252 | 0.353 | 202.595 |
| 6 |  Carlos Sainz Jr. |
 |
23 | 1,43,204 | 1,269 | 0.017 | 202,561 |
| 7 | Fernando Alonso |
 |
14 | 1’43.533 | 1.598 | 0.329 | 201.918 |
| 8 |  Valtteri Bottas |
 |
20 | 1’43.733 | 1.798 | 0.200 | 201.528 |
| 9 |  Esteban Ocon |
 |
13 | 1’43.884 | 1.949 | 0.151 | 201.235 |
| 10 |  Guanyu Zhou |
 |
17 | 1’44.525 | 2.590 | 0.641 | 200.001 |
| see results | |||||||
Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
Photo from: Motorsport.com/Japan
Photo By: Andy Hone/Motorsport Images
Photo By: Andy Hone/Motorsport Images
Photo By: Andy Hone/Motorsport Images
Photo de: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
Photo de: Motorsport.com / Japan
Foto de: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
Photo from: Motorsport.com / Japan
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Motorsport.com / Japan
Foto de: Motorsport.com / Japan
Foto de: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
Photo from: Motorsport.com / Japan
Photo from: Motorsport.com / Japan
Photo from: Motorsport.com / Japan
Photo de: Motorsport.com / Japan
Summary of Free Practice 2 (FP2) of the Japanese GP 2022 F1
The second free practice session of the Japanese Grand Prix also started on wet asphalt and the rain did not stop. Because of this, the organizers canceled the Pirelli tire test for 2023, although the stopwatch was not reset and FP2 lasted 90 minutes, instead of the usual 60.
Nicholas Latifi was the first driver to dare to go out on the track, with the extreme rain compound. Sainz, Ricciardo and Albon followed him, and after them, many others, although most waited in their garages for conditions to improve.
The Canadian Williams driver was placed in first position, although Sainz quickly snatched the first place with a 1:49.615 . Meanwhile, Latifi made a mistake when entering the pits and was forced to put the car in reverse, as he found himself in a dead end.
The McLarens were placed behind the Spanish Ferrari, with Norris second and Ricciardo third, while behind the positions were quite mixed. Hamilton took to the track after 25 minutes of FP2, being the tenth driver to start rolling, while the other half of the grid remained in the pits.
Hamilton was quickly placed first with a 1:49.489 , although the great protagonist at that time was Russell, who went out on the track with intermediate times and in his first lap he recorded a 1:46.891 , a time almost three seconds faster than that of his partner . That caused all the drivers to pit to change from the blue to the green compound.
The time table improved by leaps and bounds and the seven-time world champion reclaimed first place with a 1m44.298s as the Aston Martins joined the action on track.
With the intermediate compound the risk was greater and this was immediately noticeable, with Yuki Tsunoda and Charles Leclerc suffering the first problems to keep their cars on the asphalt and visiting the gravel of the Suzuka track.
The Red Bulls took to the track when the clock was still 50 minutes off, with a Max Verstappen who placed second on his first lap, behind a Hamilton who had lowered the bar to 1:43.536 , although on his second lap he rose to first place ( 1:43.137 ).
Completed the halfway point of FP2, Alonso was the last driver to go out on the track, with the exception of a Mick Schumacher who suffered an accident at the end of Free Practice 2 in which he destroyed his Haas. As for the times, Russell was placed first with a 1:42.968 .
The track conditions continued to improve and the times defended, although the first two positions were still for the Mercedes drivers, with a best time recorded by Russell ( 1:41.9325 ), ahead of the two Red Bulls, Sainz and Alonso.
With 25 minutes remaining in the 90-minute Free Practice 2, the vast majority of drivers returned to the pits to fit new intermediate tires and make some modifications to their cars, with a time table that stabilized.
During the last minutes of FP2, many were the drivers who lapped regularly, but practically none managed to improve their times.
