F1: Verstappen Impresses In Japanese Grand Prix Practice Two

Max Verstappen, the Red Bull driver, proved his and his team’s ability to bounce back from a slump in Singapore by topping both Friday practice sessions at the Japanese Grand Prix in a dominant fashion.

He was the fastest in the first practice, beating his closest rival by six-tenths of a second.

In the second practice, Verstappen again topped the timesheet with a commendable time of 1:30.688.

However, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc halved Verstappen’s advantage in the afternoon, finishing 0.320s off the Red Bull.

Lando Norris, the British driver, was predicted to be Red Bull’s nearest challenger, and he proved to be so by finishing third in both sessions.

The McLaren was 0.464s off the pace in the second practice.

However, Verstappen’s performance was the highlight of the day, with Anthony Davidson of Sky Sports F1 stating, “My goodness, Max looks like he’s in his element around here.”

The session ended abruptly after Pierre Gasly crashed out at the second Degner corner, leaving the Alpine driver in 19th place, with only Logan Sargeant’s Williams behind him.

Meanwhile, Singapore GP race winner Carlos Sainz was half a second down on Verstappen’s benchmark in fourth, narrowly ahead of George Russell in fifth.

Japanese GP Practice Two Timesheet

However, Lewis Hamilton struggled in the second Mercedes, ending up 14th on the timesheet with his second flying lap on the soft tyre, having made an error on his initial attempt.

Two-time Japanese GP winner and 1996 world champion Damon Hill said, “It could be a closer race than it is in qualifying, from what it appears at the moment. Lewis generally comes strong on Saturdays and during the race. He’s out of it at the moment, but he’ll be back.”

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Sergio Perez also remained well adrift of Verstappen in the second Red Bull, once again over a second behind his team-mate down in ninth.

The Mexican ended up behind Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin, Alex Albon’s Williams, and Oscar Piastri’s McLaren, with only 0.17s covering those three drivers.

Valtteri Bottas rounded out the top 10 for Alfa Romeo, edging out Lance Stroll, who was back in the Aston Martin on Friday after missing the Singapore GP race.

The top six drivers were separated by only three-tenths of a second, suggesting a tightly contested battle to reach Q3 in Saturday’s qualifying.

Verstappen and Red Bull quickly set down an ominous marker to show they would be back at the front at Suzuka in Friday morning’s opening hour.

Verstappen was the first man out on track when the green light came on and never vacated the top of the timesheet.

He was 1.7 seconds faster than anyone else with his opening effort of the day.

Japanese GP Practice One Timesheet

In summary, Verstappen’s performance was outstanding, and the competition was intense. Hamilton struggled, but he is expected to bounce back.

The qualifying round on Saturday promises to be a closely fought battle.