Sports

Team Mercedes Registers the Victory For The Day: Japanese Grand Prix Practice 2

‘Emotional’ Tsunoda says long-awaited home debut is a ‘dream come true’

Russell and Hamilton play down hopes for rest of Suzuka weekend despite topping FP2.

George Russell led a Mercedes one-two at a rain-hampered second practice session at Suzuka, with the Briton topping the timesheets ahead of team mate Lewis Hamilton and championship leader Max Verstappen.

The teams were once again greeted with wet conditions at Suzuka as rain continued to fall, resulting in the drivers staying in the pit lane at the beginning of the session. But after they emerged, the first half hour of the 90-minute practice saw Hamilton lead the way with a time of 1m 49.489s.

With an hour left, Hamilton and Russell became the first drivers to make the switch from the wet tyres to the intermediates, resulting in the Mercedes pair trading fastest laps as track conditions improved.

In the end, it was Russell who won the contest between the pair, setting a time of 1m 41.935s that bettered Hamilton’s attempt by 0.235s.

Championship leader Max Verstappen was third quickest – 0.851s behind Russell – with team mate Sergio Perez rounding out the top four.

Kevin Magnussen – whose team mate Mick Schumacher took no part in the session after crashing into the barrier at the end of FP1 – continued his good Friday form, with the fifth quickest time overall.

Carlos Sainz was sixth fastest ahead of his compatriot Fernando Alonso – who was quickest in FP1 – in seventh, with his Alpine team mate Esteban Ocon further down the order in ninth.

It was a good session for Alfa Romeo, with Valtteri Bottas – who won at Suzuka in 2019 – eighth quickest, with team mate Zhou Guanyu, in 10th.

Charles Leclerc set a time good enough for 11th, ahead of the Williams duo of Nicholas Latifi and Alex Albon, who were 12th and 13th, respectively, in the timesheets.

Home favourite Yuki Tsunoda was down in P14, ahead of four-time Japanese Grand Prix winner Sebastian Vettel, in 15th.

There were no red flags in the session, although we did see drivers – including Leclerc and Tsunoda – make their way through the gravel as they wrestled with the tricky conditions.

Parth Kakade

Recent Posts

Renowned Folk Singer Sharda Sinha Passes Away At 72; PM Modi Expresses Condolences

PM Modi expressed sorrow over Sinha’s death. "The passing of Sharda Sinha ji is deeply…

4 hours ago

US Election: India Confident Of Strong US Relations And Quad Continuity, Says Jaishankar

Jaishankar noted that the US-India relationship has flourished under both Democratic and Republican leadership, including…

4 hours ago

Sanskriti Diwas Marks 98th Birth Anniversary Of Kashiraj Dr Vibhuti Narayan Singh

Program coordinator Chakravarti Vijay Navad announced that 11 prominent individuals received the Kashiraj Dr. Vibhuti…

5 hours ago

Mallikarjun Kharge Slams ‘Batenge Toh Katenge’ Slogan During Jharkhand Campaign

Kharge emphasized that the BJP leaders promote divisive rhetoric as part of their agenda. He…

6 hours ago

Police Arrest Two In Fake Marriage Certificate Racket In Name Of Arya Samaj

DCP Nagar Abhishek Bharti revealed that five couples, including Shivani and Shrikant Yadav, recently filed…

7 hours ago

India And Nigeria Strengthen Counter-Terrorism Cooperation In Second Strategic Dialogue

Doval and Ribadu held detailed talks on challenges linked to terrorism and radicalization, including those…

7 hours ago