Japanese Grand Prix: George Russell leads Lewis Hamilton in Mercedes one-two in second practice in Suzuka
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Updated 07/10/2022 at 07:43 GMT
George Russell topped the timesheets from Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton in a wet second practice session for the Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka. The conditions dried out as the session went on, with a lack of running compared to normal with the teams wanting to save engine mileage and tyres for Sunday’s race and the remainder of the season. Championship leader Max Verstappen was third.
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George Russell led Lewis Hamilton in a Mercedes one-two in a wet second practice session for the Japanese Grand Prix.
The high-speed Suzuka circuit and the harder tyre compounds were expected to play into Mercedes’ hands, although the conditions are likely to not be representative for the predicted dry weather for qualifying on Saturday.
Hamilton is looking for his first victory in 2022 to maintain his streak of winning a race in every season he’s competed in since making his Formula 1 debut in 2007.
Nicholas Latifi was the first driver to emerge on track before the lap times began to tumble when more drivers left their garage.
Only half of the field set a lap time in the first 30 minutes with the teams wanting to save engine mileage as well as the wet and intermediate tyres for Sunday when more rain is expected.
Yuki Tsunoda had an off at Degner 1 which was shortly followed by a moment for Charles Leclerc, who was down in 11th, when he had a trip through the gravel at the hairpin. The Ferrari driver was able to crawl his way out of the gravel trap.
As the drivers switched from wets to intermediates, the lap times began to tumble with Verstappen and Russell trading top spot in the middle of the session.
Hamilton split the pair by slotting into second place, ahead of Verstappen and Sergio Perez.
Kevin Magnussen was fifth late in the session for Haas, in front of Carlos Sainz and Ferando Alonso, whilst the Alfa Romeo drivers of Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu were able to fire up the intermediate tyres to finish inside the top 10.
Mick Schumacher was unable to take part in FP2 after he crashed in the opening practice session on the exit of the Dunlop Curve.
Alonso was fastest in FP1, which was also wet and had a lack of running, with the Ferrari pair of Sainz and Leclerc in second and third.
The session was 90 minutes, which is half an hour more than usual, due to Pirelli’s plan to test tyres for next year, but the wet conditions meant they were unable to run the new rubber.
Qualifying on Saturday is set to be dry with more rain expected for the Grand Prix on Sunday, where Verstappen could seal the championship if he outscores Leclerc by eight points and team-mate Perez by six points.
There are multiple scenarios as to how this could happen with the most simple outcome being a Verstappen win, plus the bonus point for the fastest lap of the race, enough to give the Red Bull driver the title, no matter where his rivals finish.
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