Summary

  • McLaren's Oscar Piastri fastest in Japanese GP second practice

  • Mercedes' George Russell quickest in FP1 at Suzuka

  • Select audio icon for BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra commentary (UK only)

  • Mercedes won opening two races of season

  • F1 has five-week break coming up after Bahrain and Saudi Arabia cancellations

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Live Reporting

Lorraine McKenna

  1. Abbie Eaton
    British racing driver on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

    Perez is going to have to concentrate on keeping out of trouble for the rest of the weekend.

  2. This has been a scrappy start to second practice for Lando Norris, who has headed back to the McLaren garage after a few laps on the mediums. There doesn't seem to be a major issue for the world champion, though, and off he goes to join the rest of the field.

    Franco Colapinto will be on his way to the stewards after the session and following a replay of the incident with Max Verstappen, the Alpine driver will probably be in trouble. Colapinto was weaving down the straight before 130R when Verstappen was on a flying lap, causing the Red Bull man to have to slow down.

  3. Jennie Gow
    F1 pit-lane reporter at Suzuka

    Perez's car is on the floor but it's being fixed. That's a floor replacement from the crash with Albon in FP1 but its taking a while to fix. Cadillac are expecting to go out this session. Down at Audi, Gabriel Bortoleto is out of his car and the gearbox is off.

  4. Andrew Benson
    BBC F1 correspondent at Suzuka

    Fernando Alonso has to ask himself if he has the drive to carry on if the car is this bad next year. Does he have the energy to continue? I think one of the biggest issues for him is that he was around with Honda and McLaren 10 years ago in a situation terrifyingly similar to this one.

    One of the similarities there was no objective truth in Honda's opinion that they gave to McLaren about where their engine was. Alonso was in those meetings. When he now hears Honda saying what they're going to do to make the engine better, he's going to be struggling to trust what he hears coming from them.

  5. Charles Leclerc is wrestling with the steering wheel of his Ferrari in the opening part of the lap and by the time his crosses the line after drifting out of the final corner, the Monegasque driver is seven tenths down on Oscar Piastri and slots into third.

    Kimi Antonelli is the closest to matching the Australian on the softs with a time 0.092 seconds behind the McLaren driver.

  6. 'Expected Cadillac to be a little higher'

    Abbie Eaton
    British racing driver on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

    Williams have got all the ingredients to be a really successful team again this season. I would imagine it's not uncommon for teams that were up the front last season to be struggling. Red Bull haven't quite found their feet with these regulations. So it's to be expected.

    One team I would have expected to be a little higher up is Cadillac. Yes, they're a new team into the championship but it's a bit more of a level playing field with the new regs. I'm sure there's going to be a lot of development from a lot of teams to catch up.

  7. Soft tyres on

    Franco Colapinto has been involved in an incident with Red Bull's Max Verstappen at Turn 15. The Alpine driver has been clocked driving erratically ahead of the Dutchman, so that will be investigated after the session.

    The soft compound is on and McLaren's Oscar Piatri is purple in the first and middle sectors and by the end of the lap, he goes to the top with a 1:30.133.

  8. Jennie Gow
    F1 pit-lane reporter at Suzuka

    Bad news for Arvid Lindblad. He's out of the car now, it's up on the stands and it looks like Racing Bulls have a big job on their hands because Lindblad is across and on the pit wall now. He's going to miss a fair chunk of this session, if not all. There's five mechanics in front of me trying to shield what I can see but they're looking on the right hand side which is normally where the fuel goes in.

  9. Bortoleto out of the car

    Brazilian Gabriel Bortoleto, like rookie Arvid Lindblad a few moments earlier, has climbed out of his car and is watching the session unfold in the Audi garage.

    Over at newbies Cadillac, Sergio Perez, who had that contact with Alex Albon in first practice, is yet to venture out on to the circuit, while Lando Norris is still twiddling his thumbs at McLaren.

    Audi's Gabriel BortoletoGetty Images

  10. Jennie Gow
    F1 pit-lane reporter at Suzuka

    I know Ferarri did bring the Macarena wing but I don't believe it's being run this weekend.

  11. Get Involved

    Select the 'Get Involved' button to have your say

    Matt: In Japan for the week and looking forward to cheering on all the drivers. Will be there tomorrow for the qualifying and the race on Sunday ️

    Patsy: Looks like McLaren have finally joined the Mercedes/Ferrari party... fingers crossed for a good race from them!

  12. Leclerc quickest

    The new regulations require a different style of driving, and Suzuka is proving a tricky test for most drivers today. Charles Leclerc reaches the Spoon Curve but his Ferrari ends up a little bit wide and wild as he tries to put down a marker on the medium tyre.

    The Monegasque driver completes his flyer and goes quickest with a 1:31.019, just 0.048 seconds better off than the McLaren of Oscar Piastri in second.

  13. Team radio - Albon to Williams

    "Throttle is not working."

  14. yellow flag

    Yellow flag - Albon comes to a stop

    The Williams pit wall looks a little stressed as Alex Albon comes to a stop on track. The 30-year-old - it was his birthday recently - manages to get going again and the yellow flags are cleared but he is trying to get back to the pits safely.

  15. Team radio - Albon to Williams

    "What is that guy doing? It's dangerous."

  16. Piastri to the top

    The drivers on the hard compound are dropping down the order, as cars on the medium tyre take the top five spots. Oscar Piastri is able to jump above the two Mercedes to go quickest by 0.073 seconds from George Russell, who has beaten his team-mate Kimi Antonelli's time by a couple of tenths.

    Alex Albon is very annoyed on the Williams radio after a trundling car is right on the apex of Turn Three, while Arvid Lindblad is out of his Racing Bulls after those earlier issues.

    Oscar PiastriGetty Images

  17. Abbie Eaton
    British racing driver on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

    It will be good to see on tracks like this whether the new changes actually make a difference and create that wonderful Mario Kart effect everyone is so pleased about.

  18. Are there any upgrades at Suzuka?

    Andrew Benson
    BBC F1 correspondent at Suzuka

    Max Verstappen's Red Bull is sporting an aerodynamic upgrade that featured new side pods, floor and engine cover.

    Over at Aston Martin, Honda have introduced some changes that are hoped to address the engine-vibration issues that have been causing reliability problems and major discomfort for the drivers.

    The team also have an aerodynamic upgrade for Japan, featuring a new engine cover and front-of-floor furniture.

  19. The two Red Bulls of Isack Hadjar and Max Verstappen are top of the timing tower on the hard C1 compound, with Frenchman Hadjar 0.266 seconds faster than his four-tme world champion team-mate.

    Kimi Antonelli is running the medium tyre early and the Italian crosses the line and beats the Red Bull pair to go quickest.

  20. Team radio - Lindblad to Racing Bulls

    "Upshifts still fine but down they're not working."