FP2 Suzuka: Mercedes still far away

Lewis Hamilton turned the tables on Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg in a scrappy second practice session in Japan on Friday afternoon in which there were several crashes, two red flag periods, and light rain towards the end.

Hamilton topped the times with 1m 35.078s, 0.240s ahead of Rosberg on 1m 35.318s – while Mercedes’ imperious advantage was emphasised by the fact Williams’ Valtteri Bottas was their nearest challenger in third, more than one second down on Hamilton with 1m 36.279s.

McLaren’s Jenson’s Button was right behind the Finn on 1m 36.409s, fractions ahead of Sebastian Vettel’s Red Bull on 1m 36.436s, the Ferraris of Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso on 1m 36.529s and 1m 36.637s, Kevin Magnussen’s McLaren on 1m 36.714s and Daniil Kvyat’s Toro Rosso on 1m 36.943s.

Local favourite Kamui Kobayashi was the first driver to be caught out, losing the rear of his Caterham through the esses and spinning backwards into the barriers – causing damage to the rear suspension and front wing – on only his fourth lap. The Japanese driver was already playing catch-up having sat out FP1 for Roberto Merhi.

Pos No Driver Team Time/Retired Gap Laps
1 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:35.078 28
2 6 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:35.318 0.240 27
3 77 Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes 1:36.279 1.201 24
4 22 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:36.409 1.331 28
5 1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing-Renault 1:36.436 1.358 24
6 7 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:36.529 1.451 19
7 14 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:36.637 1.559 26
8 20 Kevin Magnussen McLaren-Mercedes 1:36.714 1.636 31
9 26 Daniil Kvyat STR-Renault 1:36.943 1.865 27
10 3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing-Renault 1:37.186 2.108 3
11 25 Jean-Eric Vergne STR-Renault 1:37.219 2.141 19
12 27 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1:37.504 2.426 16
13 8 Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1:37.563 2.485 31
14 19 Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 1:37.700 2.622 18
15 11 Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 1:37.786 2.708 8
16 13 Pastor Maldonado Lotus-Renault 1:37.798 2.720 27
17 99 Adrian Sutil Sauber-Ferrari 1:38.010 2.932 25
18 21 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari 1:38.365 3.287 9
19 9 Marcus Ericsson Caterham-Renault 1:39.069 3.991 22
20 17 Jules Bianchi Marussia-Ferrari 1:39.306 4.228 20
21 4 Max Chilton Marussia-Ferrari 1:39.333 4.255 24
22 10 Kamui Kobayashi Caterham-Renault 1:42.760 7.682 3