Lewis Hamilton was fastest in the second practice session at Suzuka but he was one of only five drivers to set times during a very wet session.
The world championship leader set a best time of 1’48.719 using full wet weather tyres on a very wet circuit. The pit lane did not open until halfway through the allotted 90 minutes of running due to the amount of standing water on the circuit. The rain later eased, allowing some drivers to set times, but returned before the chequered flag fell.
Williams and Force India were the only other team to send either of their cars out. Lance Stroll set a time despite running off the track at turn one after hitting a deep patch of water.
Nine other drivers performed installation laps but Red Bull and Haas did not send either of their drivers out and Pierre Gasly and Valtteri Bottas also spent the session in the pits.
Pos. | No. | Driver | Car | Best lap | Gap | Laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’48.719 | 4 | |
2 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Force India-Mercedes | 1’49.518 | 0.799 | 3 |
3 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Force India-Mercedes | 1’51.345 | 2.626 | 3 |
4 | 19 | Felipe Massa | Williams-Mercedes | 1’52.146 | 3.427 | 3 |
5 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Williams-Mercedes | 1’52.343 | 3.624 | 4 |
6 | 7 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | |||
7 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | |||
8 | 30 | Jolyon Palmer | Renault | |||
9 | 9 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber-Ferrari | |||
10 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | |||
11 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren-Honda | |||
12 | 94 | Pascal Wehrlein | Sauber-Ferrari | |||
13 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Toro Rosso-Renault | |||
14 | 2 | Stoffel Vandoorne | McLaren-Honda | |||
15 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull-TAG Heuer | |||
16 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Haas-Ferrari | |||
17 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Toro Rosso-Renault | |||
18 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas-Ferrari | |||
19 | 33 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull-TAG Heuer | |||
20 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes |
2017 Japanese Grand Prix
- 2017 Japanese Grand Prix Predictions Championship results
- 2017 Japanese Grand Prix team radio transcript
- 2017 Japanese Grand Prix Star Performers
- “It’s been a pleasure”: Japanese GP team radio highlights
- Hamilton on course to equal Schumacher’s 91 wins record in 2020
Hans (@hanswesterbeek)
6th October 2017, 8:04
Good luck writing your (usually excellent) analysis, @keithcollantine :-)
NewVerstappenFan (@jureo)
6th October 2017, 8:05
Must have been a fun session.
Hamilton decent in the wet. I predict business as usual. Ham or Vet, 1st or 2nd.
@HoHum (@hohum)
6th October 2017, 8:41
Or Max or Dan or even KR.
Roel K. (@rj01)
6th October 2017, 11:44
I feel for the fans. Only 5 cars on the track.
F Truth (@)
6th October 2017, 12:19
Props to Lewis for having the balls to go out and at least make an attempt when if he binned it he arguably has the most to lose.