Piastri posts fastest time of Friday's second practice in Japan

[p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/piastri-oscar/MqKAIeUf/"]Piastri[/a] is yet to start a grand prix this season but the Australian gave a reminder of his talent with a lap of 1min 30.133sec in dry, sunny conditions at Suzuka.[/p][p]The 19-year-old Italian [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/antonelli-andrea-kimi/ptGu0mT1/"]Antonelli[/a], who won the first grand prix of his career in China two weeks ago, was second, 0.092sec behind Piastri.[/p][p]Early championship leader [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/russell-george/xxF56RaN/"]Russell[/a], who was fastest in the morning practice ahead of Antonelli, was third.[/p][p]Piastri has endured a nightmare start to the season, crashing on his way to the grid at the opener in Australia and failing to start the grand prix in China because of a technical problem.[/p][embed guid="d7e378e1-de4d-43ec-9468-8d6bfe3a68e5" url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sa5tmiRpj6I" social-type="youtube" /][p]He hailed a "[b]decent day[/b]" in Japan, with McLaren team-mate and world champion Lando Norris clocking the fourth-fastest time.[/p][p]"[b]We felt like we made some good progress, particularly in the second practice session, which was encouraging,[/b]" said Piastri.[/p][p]"[b]The feeling is positive and we've gathered some valuable data that puts us in a solid position.[/b]"[/p][p]Mercedes have established themselves as the team to beat so far this season, claiming a one-two finish in both grands prix to date.[/p][p]They were again out in front in the morning practice session when Russell led Antonelli to top the timesheets ahead of Norris and Piastri.[/p][p]Piastri got the better of both Silver Arrows in the afternoon and Russell admitted the McLarens' pace was "[b]a little bit of a surprise[/b]".[/p][p]"[b]I don't see why it wouldn't be genuine, to be honest[/b]," said Russell, who was 0.205sec slower than Piastri.[/p][p]"[b]I think Lando's had a disruptive day but Oscar has been pretty on it from the first lap out of the box this morning."[/b][/p][embed guid="118be37b-297b-40b4-806e-1a198e9413af" url="https://x.com/F1/status/2037381837429801402" social-type="twitter" /][p]Norris ended the practice session strongly after sitting out the first half because of a hydraulic leak.[/p][p]The British driver, who did not start the Chinese Grand Prix because of a separate technical issue to Piastri, also missed half of the morning practice.[/p][p]Norris called it "[b]a tricky day[/b]".[/p][p]"[b]Around a track like this you just want laps to build confidence and refine the set-up, and right now we're two or three steps behind with no long runs and very limited consecutive running,[/b]" he said.[/p][p]Charles Leclerc was fifth ahead of Ferrari team-mate Lewis Hamilton.[/p][p]Hamilton, who finished third in China for his first podium since joining Ferrari, said over his team radio that he was "very slow because I have no confidence in the car".[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/red-bull-off-road-team-usa/ATzhRx9n/"]Red Bull[/a]'s four-time world champion [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/verstappen-max/UV3mgeXB/"]Max Verstappen[/a] was 10th, 1.376sec slower than Piastri.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/albon-alexander/OEbwYC7k/"]Alex Albon[/a] had an eventful morning and he was again in the thick of it in the second practice.[/p][p]The [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/williams/URNlSkoO/"]Williams[/a] driver almost shunted into [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/alpine-endurance-team/xOOCzFPB/"]Alpine[/a]'s [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gasly-pierre/nqYFMBBf/"]Pierre Gasly[/a] in the pits and later came to a standstill for several seconds on the track before regaining power.[/p][p]Albon crashed into Cadillac's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/perez-sergio/foV8RteD/"]Sergio Perez[/a] in the morning and also skidded deep into the gravel before clipping a barrier.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/aston-martin-racing/fB8lbmo3/"]Aston Martin[/a]'s [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/alonso-fernando/rVRhR90U/"]Fernando Alonso[/a] took part in the afternoon practice after being replaced by reserve driver [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/crawford-jak/6ZvgOYde/"]Jak Crawford[/a] for the morning session.[/p][p]Alonso arrived in Japan late following the birth of his first child.[/p][embed guid="bf529289-f7f4-41bc-8098-3bcd4d4215ec" url="https://x.com/F1/status/2037428434754838589" social-type="twitter" /]