2024 F1 Japanese GP results: Verstappen fastest in practice

Verstappen was fastest in Free Practice 1, lapping in 1m30.056s, while FP2 was blighted by rain showers. That was topped by McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, with a quickest time of 1m34.725s.

Japanese GP FP1 results: Verstappen fastest from Perez

Main Information Additional Data Driver Info Driver Info

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Main Information Additional Data 1  -  2
Cla	Driver	#		Chassis	Engine	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h
1	M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing	1		Red Bull	Red Bull	18	1'30.056		232.135
2	S. Perez Red Bull Racing	11		Red Bull	Red Bull	18	+0.181 1'30.237	0.181	231.669
3	C. Sainz Ferrari	55		Ferrari	Ferrari	20	+0.213 1'30.269	0.032	231.587
4	G. Russell Mercedes	63		Mercedes	Mercedes	18	+0.474 1'30.530	0.261	230.920
5	L. Hamilton Mercedes	44		Mercedes	Mercedes	23	+0.487 1'30.543	0.013	230.886
6	C. Leclerc Ferrari	16		Ferrari	Ferrari	18	+0.502 1'30.558	0.015	230.848
7	F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing	14		Aston Martin	Mercedes	20	+0.543 1'30.599	0.041	230.744
8	O. Piastri McLaren	81		McLaren	Mercedes	23	+1.109 1'31.165	0.566	229.311
9	Y. Tsunoda RB	22		RB	Red Bull	20	+1.174 1'31.230	0.065	229.148
10	L. Norris McLaren	4		McLaren	Mercedes	22	+1.184 1'31.240	0.010	229.123
11	E. Ocon Alpine	31		Alpine	Renault	19	+1.879 1'31.935	0.695	227.391
12	A. Albon Williams	23		Williams	Mercedes	18	+1.887 1'31.943	0.008	227.371
13	N. Hulkenberg Haas F1 Team	27		Haas	Ferrari	19	+1.902 1'31.958	0.015	227.334
14	V. Bottas Sauber	77		Sauber	Ferrari	17	+1.998 1'32.054	0.096	227.097
15	L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing	18		Aston Martin	Mercedes	17	+1.999 1'32.055	0.001	227.094
16	A. Iwasa RB	40		RB	Red Bull	22	+2.047 1'32.103	0.048	226.976
17	P. Gasly Alpine	10		Alpine	Renault	23	+2.221 1'32.277	0.174	226.548
18	Z. Guanyu Sauber	24		Sauber	Ferrari	18	+2.582 1'32.638	0.361	225.665
19	K. Magnussen Haas F1 Team	20		Haas	Ferrari	21	+2.747 1'32.803	0.165	225.264
20	L. Sargeant Williams	2		Williams	Mercedes	10	+3.148 1'33.204	0.401	224.295
View full results

What happened in Japanese GP Free Practice 1?

Lewis Hamilton had just sent the quickest time on soft tyres of 1m30.543s in his Mercedes when Logan Sargeant lost control of his Williams at the final element of The Esses, known as the Dunlop Curve, and his car slammed into the tyre wall.

Sargeant, who was using the repaired chassis that team-mate Alex Albon crashed in Melbourne, was unhurt.

After a lengthy break to clear the track, the session resumed with Verstappen immediately setting a faster time of 1m30.056s, 0.181s quicker than team-mate Perez. Ferrari’s Australian GP winner Carlos Sainz was third fastest on 1m30.269s, three tenths ahead of George Russell’s Mercedes.

With rain in the forecast, teams were keen to get a long run on soft tyres, which meant further improvements weren’t forthcoming. Charles Leclerc ended the session in sixth, half a second off the pace, behind Hamilton but ahead of Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) and Oscar Piastri (McLaren).

Local hero Yuki Tsunoda was ninth fastest for RB, ahead of the second McLaren of Lando Norris.

Japanese GP FP2 results: Piastri fastest from Hamilton

Main Information Additional Data Driver Info Driver Info

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Main Information Additional Data 1  -  2
Cla	Driver	#		Chassis	Engine	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h
1	O. Piastri McLaren	81		McLaren	Mercedes	7	1'34.725		220.693
2	L. Hamilton Mercedes	44		Mercedes	Mercedes	6	+0.501 1'35.226	0.501	219.532
3	C. Leclerc Ferrari	16		Ferrari	Ferrari	4	+4.035 1'38.760	3.534	211.676
4	Y. Tsunoda RB	22		RB	Red Bull	8	+6.221 1'40.946	2.186	207.092
5	D. Ricciardo RB	3		RB	Red Bull	9	+7.188 1'41.913	0.967	205.127
6	L. Norris McLaren	4		McLaren	Mercedes	3	+10.252 1'44.977	3.064	199.140
7	C. Sainz Ferrari	55		Ferrari	Ferrari	3	+17.854 1'52.579	7.602	185.693
8	E. Ocon Alpine	31		Alpine	Renault	3	+24.388 1'59.113	6.534	175.507
9	K. Magnussen Haas F1 Team	20		Haas	Ferrari	4	+55.747 2'30.472	31.359	138.930
10	Z. Guanyu Sauber	24		Sauber	Ferrari	7
11	V. Bottas Sauber	77		Sauber	Ferrari	7
12	A. Albon Williams	23		Williams	Mercedes	5
13	N. Hulkenberg Haas F1 Team	27		Haas	Ferrari	5
14	M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing	1		Red Bull	Red Bull	0
15	L. Sargeant Williams	2		Williams	Mercedes	0
16	P. Gasly Alpine	10		Alpine	Renault	0
17	S. Perez Red Bull Racing	11		Red Bull	Red Bull	0
18	F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing	14		Aston Martin	Mercedes	0
19	L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing	18		Aston Martin	Mercedes	0
20	G. Russell Mercedes	63		Mercedes	Mercedes	0
View full results

What happened in Japanese GP Free Practice 2?

Rain showers caused a frustrating lack of running in FP2, with Hamilton and RB’s Daniel Ricciardo – who missed FP1 in favour of Red Bull junior Ayumu Iwasa – emerging after 15 minutes on slicks, only for it to sprinkle some more and send them pitwards.

Piastri sparked a small flurry of cars running on intermediates just before the halfway point. Tsunoda set the first flying lap time, a 1m42.304s, which he lowered to 1m40.946s, just under a second faster than team-mate Ricciardo.

For most of the session it was too wet for slicks and too dry for any serious running on inters, but Piastri ran again towards the end, this time on slicks, and worked down to 1m34.725s.

Hamilton also had a go, lapping half a second off the pace, with Leclerc going third fastest, ahead of inter runners Tsunoda and Ricciardo.

Norris and Sainz were sixth and seventh with unrepresentative times.