McLaren’s Oscar Piastri beats Mercedes in second F1 Japanese GP practice

March 28, 2026

Kevin Peterson

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri went fastest in second practice for the Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix, curtailing Mercedes dominance as Ferrari and Red Bull struggled.

Piastri delivered a blistering lap time of 1:30.133 at the iconic Suzuka Circuit to beat Kimi Antonelli by a just 0.092 seconds, while championship leader George Russell sat third at 0.205s adrift.

This result came after Mercedes had locked out the top two positions in FP1, making Piastri’s late-session surge a pivotal improvement that signaled McLaren’s intent to challenge what has been a Silver Arrows-led season so far.

As the session unfolded on Friday evening, nearly the entire field rolled out immediately on yellow-banded medium tires save for Piastri’s teammate Lando Norris who was forced to sit out the first half nursing a hydraulics leak in his McLaren.

Lewis Hamilton opened the timesheets with a 1:33.306, but after 10 minutes, Piastri had climbed to P1 with a 1:31.495, while Russell was second ahead of teammate Antonelli.

Trouble brewed early for Williams when Alexander Albon encountered a ‘dangerous’ near-miss in traffic at the tight Turn 3 right-hander demanding split-second reactions, forcing him to weave perilously close to a slower car.

Not long after, rookie sensation Arvid Lindblad was instructed to pull over his Racing Bulls after reporting downshifts were “not working”, halting his session prematurely as mechanics swarmed the car at the pit entry.

Albon’s woes compounded minutes later as he coasted to a halt at Turn 1 reporting “things are not working” over the team radio, triggering a yellow flag. His FW48 was towed back to the garage amid suspicions of a hydraulic or ERS glitch, losing valuable track time in a session already compressed by the evening curfew.

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Meanwhile, Gabriel Bortoleto limped his Audi back to the garage with similar power unit issues before venturing out in the final minutes, as race Control announced Franco Colapinto would be investigated after FP2 for ‘erratic driving’ in an incident involving Max Verstappen.

Oscar Piastri, unfazed by the interruptions and swapping to the soft Pirelli tyres, returned for a second flying run around the 40-minute mark, dialing in his ultimate benchmark of 1:30.133 that would stand unthreatened.

Antonelli pushed valiantly to within 0.092s, splitting Piastri’s time in sectors one and three, but a slight lift at the hairpin denied him the top spot, with Russell rounding out the Mercedes 2-3 lockout attempt at 0.205s back.

Lando Norris latched onto fourth despite his lost time, followed by Ferrari duo of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton.

Red Bull endured a tough start to the weekend as Max Verstappen struggled with understeer, his best only good enough for 10th, while team-mate Isack Hadjar also struggled by finishing 15th.

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