Russell leads Mercedes one-two in second wet practice

George Russell headed a Mercedes one-two in a wet and elongated Free Practice 2 for the Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix.

Russell proved two tenths faster than team-mate Lewis Hamilton with Max Verstappen third-best, eight tenths off the outright pace.

However, lap times were somewhat meaningless given the wet conditions, which saw the extreme wet tyres in use initially before conditions improved.

The weather was such that the dry weather tyre test that had been planned for Suzuka was cancelled, though the session remained 90 minutes in duration.

It was again a slow start, as Free Practice 1 had been, with Nicholas Latifi the first driver out.

He was on the full wet tyres but even still he did little more than trundle around on his first lap out of the pits.

The Canadian remained on track, completing a 1:56.471s as Carlos Sainz and Daniel Ricciardo joined him on track, Latifi dropping to a 1:52.233s on his second lap as he grew in confidence.

Sainz immediately went faster on his first timed lap, logging a 1:49.615s. The Spaniard opined over the radio that the intermediate tyres would handle the conditions as they were, but that it would be taking too much risk in a practice session.

There was an embarrassing moment for Latifi when he appeared to mistake where the track went at the final chicane, turning into one of the cut-throughs for the West Circuit. He quickly affected a flick spin and got going once more.

After 27 minutes, Lewis Hamilton reported that conditions had improved and that it was close to switching to intermediate tyres.

While wet, there was little to no standing water, with only a handful of rivers scattered around the circuit.

Still on the full wets, Hamilton went fastest with a 1:49.489s after 30 minutes.

That was soon bettered by Russell, who recorded a 1:46.891s on the intermediate tyres.

Mercedes took the opportunity to swap Hamilton onto the shallower grooved rubber too, and he soon banked a 1:44.298s to return to the top of the timing screen.

Yuki Tsunoda was third-fastest, though had an off at Degner 1, bouncing through the gravel before rejoining the circuit at Degner 2.

Charles Leclerc also had an off-track moment, his at the hairpin. The Ferrari driver had skidded long under braking, stopping just short of the barrier but was able to reverse and get back on track.

Having delayed his entry into the session until the 50-minute mark, Verstappen shot to the top of the timesheets on his first timed lap.

The Dutchman recorded a 1:43.571s, only to be quickly bettered by Hamilton’s 1:43.536s.

Verstappen improved marginally the next time around, only for Russell to go even faster with a 1:42.968s.

The Brit then improved to 1:41.935s, with Hamilton slotting in second at 1:42.170s.

Sergio Perez made the same mistake as Leclerc, skipping through the gravel at the hairpin but stopping just shy of the barrier before carrying on.

Improving conditions tempted all drivers out on track, barring Mick Schumacher who was forced to sit out as Haas worked to build him up a new chassis.

The German had crashed at the end of Free Practice 1 as he aquaplaned after the chequered flag, damaging the tub he was using and necessitating a change.

Despite the elongated session, most teams completed about the same amount of running as they would in a typical 60-minute window – around 20 laps per driver.

McLaren was an exception with its drivers logging around half that mileage, as did Leclerc, though he was hindered by brake issues.

The session ended with half the field on track, again taking advantage of the opportunity to complete a practice start following the chequered flag.

Conditions are set to improve on Saturday for Free Practice 3 and Qualifying, though it’s expected to deteriorate once more on Sunday.

Free Practice 3 follows on Saturday at noon local time (14:00 AEDT/04:00 BST/23:00 ET).

Results: Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix, Free Practice 2