Hamilton on top as only five drivers post times in second Japanese GP practice

Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time of a rain-hit second practice session for the Japanese Grand Prix that saw just five drivers post lap times.

Heavy rain between the two practice sessions on Friday saw FP2 delayed until conditions improved, with the FIA race director Charlie Whiting only willing to allow running to take place in the final 45 minutes of the session. Only 14 drivers opted to head out during the session, with both Red Bull and Haas drivers being joined by Valtteri Bottas and Pierre Gasly in not venturing out on track.

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After an opening 45 minutes that saw teams racing home-made boats down the sloped pit lane due to the amount of water, it was the Force Indias who were first to post times. Esteban Ocon was comfortably quickest until Hamilton headed out and posted a 1m48.719s. Hamilton also did a solitary lap at the end of the session but opted to return to the pits immediately as the rain intensified.

Ocon finished second quickest, 0.799s adrift of the championship leader, with Sergio Perez over two and a half seconds off the pace in third place. The only other drivers to set lap times were the Williams pair of Felipe Massa and Lance Stroll, both over three seconds off the pace.

Stroll also came close to damaging his car when he went off at Turn 1 in a sign of how tricky the conditions were. The Canadian teenager had to correct the car after aquaplaning just before the corner, resulting in him going straight on into the gravel. Stroll did well to keep the Williams out of the tire barrier having gone off at speed and was able to rejoin and continue.

Only 30 laps in total were completed during the session, with further rain only forecast to hit FP3 on Saturday morning and potentially have an impact on qualifying. The current weather forecast is for a dry and warm day on Sunday, meaning the teams had little to gain by carrying out significant running on Friday afternoon.