FORMULA 1
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 Credit: Zak Mauger A busy Friday at the Suzuka Circuit saw the opening two practice sessions, as well as the opening day of action across the Japanese Grand Prix weekend in 2025. It was two sessions that both ran for an hour each and both had differences in terms of the action that unfolded in each with plenty of track time for drivers and teams to use in the first practice session. However, as for the second practice session which followed, there was hardly any flow or rhythm to the session with a total of four red flags causing mass disruption in the session and taking up two thirds of the session time. McLaren and their drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri will be feeling the happiest out of them and the entire grid as they both topped a practice session each. Norris was quickest in the opening session whereas Piastri topped Free Practice 2. The lack of running in Free Practice 2 is going to mean it will likely be a very busy session during Free Practice 3, as the teams and drivers try and make up for lost track time especially Jack Doohan and Fernando Alonso who both had their sessions ended early as they were the cause of the first two of four red flags. Doohan had a massive crash inside the first 10 minutes of FP2 and made way for the Japanese Alpine reserve driver Ryo Hirakawa who has become the first rookie Free Practice participant in 2025.
Free Practice 1 in Suzuka would kick start action for the first triple header of the 2025 Formula One season and also the start of the Japanese Grand Prix weekend. Drivers would therefore waste little time in heading out onto the circuit in an attempt to set some lap times and get familiar with the iconic Japanese circuit and for some drivers it would be their first time visiting the circuit in Formula One. Jack Doohan had raced at Suzuka previously in Asian Formula 3 but would had not raced at the venue since 2019 in a round where he won twice. Although, Doohan would miss opening practice due to being replaced by Ryo Hirakawa as one of Alpine's free practice sessions where they give a seat to a rookie as part of the 2025 regulations. Max Verstappen for Red Bull would set the early benchmark lap time, which the rest of the field would all need to aim to beat, in order to go fastest. It would be a 1:30.738 for Verstappen and would be the driver top after 10 minutes had passed in the session. At the end of the first 10 minutes, of the hour session, Verstappen would lead Fernando Alonso and Charles Leclerc as the top three. However, there was personal bests set for George Russell and Lando Norris that would drop Alonso and Leclerc out of the top three. Russell would go second fastest behind Verstappen, while Norris would slot into third. 0.016 would be the gap between Verstappen and Russell in the top two. The Mercedes in the hands of Russell was looking very pacey and it would not be too long until he would go fastest overall with a 1:29.616. 20 minutes gone and that would be the time to beat as it was Russell, Verstappen and Alex Albon making up the top three. Isack Hadjar who was one that had never raced at Suzuka prior to the weekend, put his VCARB third in a fantastic effort from the Frenchman. He would jump above Albon but would remain behind Russell and Verstappen. Shortly the session would reach its halfway point and Russell remained fastest but it became a Mercedes 1-2 with Kimi Antonelli elevating himself to second place and above Max Verstappen. Russell's time had improved to a 1:28.809. It would be a big weekend for home hero Yuki Tsunoda who would be having his debut race weekend at Red Bull Racing, in front of his home crowd. His home faithful would have something to cheer about when the Japanese driver would go second fastest. The lap would still be over three tenths away from Russell at the top of the time sheets. It would be the Mercedes driver who would be quickest with 20 minutes remaining. The top five with 40 minutes completed would be Russell, Leclerc, Verstappen, Tsunoda and Alonso. It had been a fairly quiet session for Norris that would be until he ended up at the top of the times with a new fastest lap of the session, which was a 1:28.549. He would be top with just 10 minutes remaining of the session. In the final 10 minutes, a bit of a scare for Antonelli who had a moment wide in the gravel but the young Italian would do well to keep his Mercedes out of the wall and to get it back onto the circuit. Soon enough the session would be finished and the chequered flag would be out. Norris would remain unbeaten throughout the final 10 minutes of the session. Norris would finish ahead of Russell in a British 1-2. Charles Leclerc would be third for Ferrari, ahead of experienced teammate Lewis Hamilton. Max Verstappen completed the top five for Red Bull ahead of teammate Yuki Tsunoda in sixth.
Time for Free Practice 2 following a break after a busy Free Practice 1 session. The drivers would head out onto the circuit following the green light coming on at the end of the pit lane. The drivers would get settled down into a rhythm and looking to get some lap times completed and a mix of practice runs were appearing on the circuit. Some drivers went about practicing qualifying laps whereas some went to practice some race simulations. Lewis Hamilton would start the session well by laying down a benchmark lap time but that would be only brief as his former teammate George Russell would dislodge him and the Mercedes driver would be top with a 1:29.666. Running at the start of the session would be halted with less than 10 minutes of the session completed as a nasty accident for Alpine driver Jack Doohan would see the intervention from the Red Flag. Doohan would spin off at high speed at turn 1 and would smash into the wall at 185mph. His car and the barrier were significantly damaged but the most significant news was that Doohan responded over team radio saying he was "ok". The Australian would be taken to the circuit medical centre for health checks. A significant delay would take place while the destroyed Alpine was removed and the barrier underwent significant repairs in order to make the track safe for usage again. From the running that had taken place prior to the red flag it was Russell and Hamilton in first and second with Fernando Alonso, Isack Hadjar and Yuki Tsunoda holding the top five positions provisionally. At the halfway point of the session, FP2 would finally get back underway following the hard work by track marshals and maintenance staff to get the session back up and running. However it would not be long back underway before a second red flag. This time Fernando Alonso found the grass before taking a trip into the gravel trap and ending up beached. The session would be over for the Spanish driver as the rest of the drivers returned to the pit lane once again. The delay would not be as great with the time taken to move the Aston Martin car of Alonso and with 19 minutes remaining the session was underway for the third time. Isack Hadjar put together an almighty lap to go fastest for VCARB and was showing great amounts of speed. His lap would be good enough to withstand Oscar Piastri's latest attempt. However, Piastri's McLaren teammate Lando Norris would beat Hadjar's effort. Norris would set a 1:28.163, which would be over three tenths clear of Hadjar's lap time. Some effort from the Brit. However, a third red flag would be introduced for a very rare incident. The grass at the side of the circuit had caught fire due to the sparks that had blown from the cars passing by on the tarmac. With the wind, the sparks had seemingly been blown onto the grass and therefore the grass caught fire. This would be another delay and disruption to the session which would be causing frustration across the paddock. The session would restart with seven minutes to go and the top five were Norris, Hadjar, Piastri, Hamilton and Liam Lawson in his first weekend back at VCARB following his demotion from Red Bull Racing. Piastri would find time out on circuit and would go fastest overall, ahead of his teammate Lando Norris to make it a McLaren 1-2. Once again, McLaren look like the team to beat in Suzuka. There would not be disruption-free end to what had been a very stop/start session already. More grass had caught fire and therefore the red flag would be introduced. The session would not restart meaning Piastri had finished top of Free Practice 2. A 1-2 it would be for McLaren with Piastri ahead of his teammate and the championship leader Norris. A remarkable session would see their cars end up third and fifth with Hadjar third ahead of Lawson in fifth. Fourth would be Lewis Hamilton. Action would return on the Japanese Grand Prix for free practice 3 on Qualifying day - on Saturday morning.
 Brandon Whiteside
Writer - F1 Journal
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