Piastri sets pace ahead of Mercedes in Japan

· BBC Sport
Apart from the Chinese Grand Prix sprint, McLaren's Oscar Piastri is yet to complete a racing lap in the 2026 seasonGetty Images

By
Andrew Benson
F1 Correspondent in Suzuka
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McLaren's Oscar Piastri set the pace in second practice at the Japanese Grand Prix ahead of the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli and George Russell.

Piastri ended the first day's running at the classic Suzuka track 0.092 seconds quicker than Antonelli, who took his maiden grand prix victory in China last time out.

Russell, leading the championship after two races, was 0.205secs off the pace and 0.113secs slower than his team-mate.

McLaren's Lando Norris, who missed the first half of the session, was fourth fastest despite a coupe of off-track moments, ahead of the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen was struggling, complaining of understeer and way off the pace on both short and long runs. The four-time champion was 10th fastest and 1.376secs off the pace.

The Dutchman, who on Thursday ejected a journalist from his news conference because he was unhappy about a question that was asked at last year's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, was behind Audi's Nico Hulkenberg, Williams' Alex Albon and the Haas of Oliver Bearman.

Earlier in the day, Russell led Antonelli by 0.026secs in the first hour's session.

And Mercedes' apparent superiority was underlined on the race-simulation runs late in the second session, with Antonelli leading the way from Russell and no one else within within 0.5secs on average.

Both Ferrari drivers seemed to be struggling for grip. Leclerc suffered some wobbles through the Esses and ran off track at Spoon Curve later on, while Hamilton complained he was "slow because I've got no confidence in the car".

Norris' early problem was a hydraulics failure, which McLaren fixed after half an hour.

He was far from the only driver to have problems. Racing Bulls' Arvid Lindblad took no part because of a gearbox problem that required a new part, while Audi's Gabriel Bortoleto spent nearly three-quarters of the session in the garage with an unspecified technical problem.

And Cadillac's Sergio Perez also missed about half the session while the team repaired floor damage caused by a collision with Albon in the first session.

Fernando Alonso had his first taste of Suzuka this year in the second session, after American reserve driver Jak Crawford drove in the first.

The veteran Spaniard, who arrived late in Japan following the birth of his first child, was 19th fastest, two places and 0.355secs ahead of team-mate Lance Stroll.

Honda F1 boss Koji Watanabe said both performance and reliability should be improved for the company's home race this weekend.

Watanabe said: "We are focused on how we can improve the situation of vibration, mainly damage to battery area, but also this time for Suzuka we have improved energy management situation for more driving performance."

Debris flies off the Williams of Alex Albon after he collided with Cadillac's Sergio Perez at the chicane in first practiceGetty Images

Japanese Grand Prix

27-29 March with race at 06:00 BST on Sunday

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