#JapaneseGP FP2: @GeorgeRussell63 leads @LewisHamilton in @MercedesAMGF1 one-two. #F1

Russell Japanese GP FP2 – George Russell lead from team-mate Sir Lewis Hamilton in a Mercedes one-two at a damp FP2 session for the Japanese GP as championship leader Max Verstappen completed the top three for Red Bull.

Russell’s benchmark was a 1:41.935, set on the green side-walled intermediate compounds and was 0.235 quicker than team-mate Hamilton with Verstappen a further 0.851 seconds off the Briton.

The Silver Arrows pairing looked strong on the inters to lead FP2 and showed very few signs of struggles from the W13 of generating sufficient tyre temperature.

Verstappen, who could clinch his second World Driver’s Championship crown this weekend, was over eight tenths behind from the leading Mercedes of Russell as Leclerc took an excursion into the gravel trap in his F1-75 to wind up 11th in the order.

With the 5.807km Suzuka International Racing Course still soaked, no one hit the track early in the 90-minute long session – FP2 extended by half-an-hour to accommodate a Pirelli tyre test run.

But with the testing a rubber a slick compound, the extra time was meaningless in the wet, although FP2 at the United States Grand Prix in Austin will be extended to conduct the tyre tests.

Williams Racing’s Nicholas Latifi was eventually the first driver to hit the circuit after the opening five minutes, running a set of full-wets for two tours until he took the turn 16 escape road with a temporary car problem before spinning and continuing. He was joined by Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo.

After 12 minutes, Sainz was the first driver to register a time as the Spaniard dipped below the 1:50’s with a 1:49.615. By comparison, Alpine’s Fernando Alonso set the FP1 pace with a 1:42.248 seconds to find three tenths over the Ferrari driver.

With many opting to remain their garages, Sainz’s effort stood until the hour mark, when Hamilton brought the benchmark down by going fastest with a 1:49.489.

At this point, Russell was the first to run a set of intermediates and went even quicker with a 1:46.891 to signify the crossover.

Russell improved to a 1:45.738 then 45.197 before Mercedes team-mate Hamilton fought back with a 1:44.298 effort.

Points leader Verstappen finally emerged with 39 minutes remaining, as did Leclerc, who went straight off at turn 11 on his sighting tour, but managed to keep his Ferrari F1-75 racer running through the gravel and continuing on.

Verstappen did his normal trick of pulling clear on his initial effort, the reigning champion then posted a 1:43.571 then dropping it to a 1:43.137 on the following flyer.

Russell then found a tenth over the Honda-powered RB18 on his next flying lap and then another scoring the session’s fastest tour with a 1:41.935 on the intermediates just after the halfway point before almost everyone returned to the pits.

This left Russell 0.235 seconds clear of team-mate Hamilton as Verstappen was third and a further 0.851 seconds off.

Despite the conditions being unfavourable, FP2 did settle into it’s usual with all cars running their traditional long race data run gathering – as the scrub sets saw the lap-times drop by four seconds.

As such, Russell lead a Mercedes one-two on the time-sheets and watched the final 15 minutes from the garage whilst Verstappen finished ahead of Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez who was fourth as the Singapore GP winner had a notable moment having an excursion into the gravel at the hairpin.

A late run on a fresh set of intermediates by Haas F1 Team’s Kevin Magnussen saw the Dane hit fifth place on the classification.

Sainz lead Ferrari’s charge, but was 1.269 seconds adrift of Russell’s benchmark as Alonso was seventh over Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas who took eighth, Alpine F1 Team’s Esteban Ocon who placed ninth and Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu who completed the top ten.

Ferrari’s Leclerc finished outside the top ten in 11th place amid brake issues and in-front of Williams Racing duo Latifi and Alexander Albon who ended FP2 in 12th and 13th respectively as home-favourite Yuki Tsunoda was 14th for AlphaTauri.

Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel placed 15th and ahead of McLaren pairing Lando Norris and Ricciardo who were 16th and 17th respectively.

Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll ended the day 18th and in-front of AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly who was 19th and Haas F1 Team’s Mick Schumacher who brought up the rear.

Schumacher was unable to take part in the session after his late FP1 shunt.

You can see the full Formula 1 Honda Japanese Grand Prix 2022 Free Practice 2 Results Classification at the link: https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2022/races/1134/japan/practice-2.html

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