Wet conditions limited the number of cars participating in Friday’s practice sessions.
SUZUKA, Japan—Many thought it would rain more than expected when the Japanese Grand Prix moved from October to April. And on Friday, it happened to be exactly that. Most of the field did not go out onto the wet circuit, with only eight cars participating.
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri set the best time of the afternoon with 1:34:725, but he was not as quick as the morning best time set by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who set the best time of the day, clocking a much faster 1:30:056 in drier conditions.
RB Cash App’s Yuki Tsunoda, driving on his home circuit, participated in the second practice session, as did partner Daniel Riccardo and Kick Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu and Valtteri Bottas. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) and Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) ventured out with a few minutes to go in the session, and despite completing a limited number of laps, Hamilton took second behind Piastri, with Leclerc in third.
One driver who might have gone out earlier was American Logan Sargeant, who crashed his Williams into the trackside tire wall in the morning, resulting in a damaged suspension. His crew spent the entire second session repairing the problem, and fixing the damage is necessary if Sargeant is to race on Sunday. If not, he’ll miss the second race in a row after giving up his car to teammate Alex Albon in Australia due to the number of chassis available to the team in long-distance races.
For his part, Albon, along with McLaren’s Lando Norris and Haas F1’s Kevin Magnussen, attempted a lap in the wet. Still, all drivers returned to the pits, feeling that the weather conditions were too difficult.
The weather is expected to improve for the third practice and qualifying on Saturday, but more rain on Sunday could make this race challenging.
