McLaren’s Oscar Piastri set the fastest lap of the second practice session for the 2026 FIA Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix, beating Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli by just under a tenth of a second as George Russell finished third in the other Mercedes car. 

Piastri was on the pace from the start of the session as drivers headed out on a mix of Medium and Hard compound tyres. The Australian, who has yet to complete a racing lap in 2026 after two difficult opening weekends, stole P1 from early pacesetter Russell, and though he then ceded the position to a succession of improvers including Antonelli and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, the Australian was never far away. 

And when the field switched to red-banded C3 compound Pirellis for qualifying simulations ahead of the halfway mark Piastri moved ahead. His first run netted a time of 1:30.133s and that proved too much for the nine-time grand prix winner’s rivals. 

Antonelli got closest. The Italian teenager also posted his best time on his first Soft tyre run but in the end his lap of 1:30.225 left him 0.092s off Piastri. It did, however, put him 0.113s ahead of team-mate Russell who took third ahead of defending world champion Lando Norris. 

Norris’ P4 was a good recovery at the end of a frustrating session. The champion missed most of the opening half hour with a hydraulics leak on his MCL40 and after jumping to P6 with his first time on Mediums and then fourth on Softs as he barrelled through a compressed plan. 

Norris ended the session just over 0.516s off his team-mate, while Leclerc completed the top five for Ferrari with a lap of 1:30.846. Ferrari had taken P5 and P6 in the first session and it did so again, with Lewis Hamilton claiming sixth just over a tenth of a second behind his team-mate. 

Alex Albon have Williams hope of a positive weekend with eighth place ahead of Haas’ Ollie Bearman but there was less to cheer about for Max Versrappen who rounded out the top 10 order. 

The four-time champion was unhappy with his car throughout Friday but in the second session the issues seemed to pile up as he complained about “unreal understeer” as well as problematic upshifts and downshifts. The Dutchman’s team-mate Isack Hadjar was similarly critical of his RB22, and the French driver ended up 0.250 off his team-mate and down in P15. 

Arvid Lindblad was the only driver who failed to set a lap, as the Racing Bulls rookie left his garage early on but quickly returned to his team’s garage with a gearbox issue. 

2026 FIA Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix – Free Practice 2 
1 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:30.133 28 231.937
2 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:30.225 0.092 26 231.700
3 George Russell Mercedes 1:30.338 0.205 28 231.410
4 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:30.649 0.516 16 230.616
5 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:30.846 0.713 27 230.116
6 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:30.980 0.847 25 229.777
7 Nico Hülkenberg Audi 1:31.441 1.308 26 228.619
8 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:31.496 1.363 29 228.482
9 Oliver Bearman Haas/Ferrari 1:31.498 1.365 26 228.477
10 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Red Bull Ford 1:31.509 1.376 28 228.449
11 Esteban Ocon Haas/Ferrari 1:31.532 1.399 28 228.392
12 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls/Red Bull Ford 1:31.590 1.457 29 228.247
13 Carlos Sainz Williams/Mercedes 1:31.608 1.475 28 228.202
14 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Mercedes 1:31.734 1.601 28 227.889
15 Isack Hadjar Red Bull/Red Bull Ford 1:31.759 1.626 27 227.827
16 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi 1:31.933 1.800 10 227.396
17 Franco Colapinto Alpine/Mercedes 1:32.438 2.305 27 226.153
18 Valtteri Bottas Cadillac/Ferrari 1:32.615 2.482 27 225.721
19 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Honda 1:33.596 3.463 24 223.355
20 Sergio Pérez Cadillac/Ferrari 1:33.689 3.556 12 223.133
21 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Honda 1:33.951 3.818 20 222.51
22 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls/Red Bull Ford - 1