Suzuka, FP2: Kvyat fastest in Japan as rain again disrupts running

Red Bull Racing’s Daniil Kvyat took over at the top of the timesheets in a wet second practice session that saw teams repeat the restricted running of the rain-disrupted opening session.

Kvyat’s time of 1:48.277, set on intermediate tyres was good enough to put him in P1, though only just, with Nico Rosberg finishing second, two hundredths of a second behind the Russian. Rosberg’s Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton was third, half a second further back.

Although the session began in the dry, the track surface was still wet from the steady rain of earlier in the afternoon and as such there was little real rush from teams to take to the track.

Kvyat, however, broke the silence and he set about setting the first timed lap of the afternoon on intermediate tyres, a lap of Russian venturing out on intermediate tyres and setting the first timed lap of the session. He posted a time of 1:49.374, a tenth up on Carlos Sainz’s session-best time from FP1.

Second place then went to Ferrari’s Kimi Räikkönen, with Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg third.

After a quarter of an hour, and as conditions improved, Rosberg took over at the top, the German, on intermediate tyres, posting a lap of 1m48.300s, a full second beyond the early benchmark set by Kvyat. Hamilton then bounced Kvyat down to the third to complete a Mercedes one-two.

It was quiet elsewhere, however, with a number of drivers refraining from setting times. Both McLarens were yet to set a time and Williams’s Valtteri Bottas and Toro Rosso’s Max Verstappen were also holding back. While Verstappen and McLaren’s Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso would take to the track, Bottas did not turn a wheel in the session.

Alonso’s failure to appear was in large due to a long period spent in the garage as his team reverted to a Singapore engine following problems he had encountered in FP1.

Just after half an hour Kvyat then marginally eclipsed the benchmark set by Rosberg, posting a time of 1:48.277.

In terms of improvement that was it, however, as a short time later the rain began to fall again and lap times drifted. By the final minutes of the session almost all drivers were seated in their garages with only Sebastian Vettel and Alonso lapping.

With Hamilton third on the timesheet, fourth place went to Kvyat’s Red Bull Racing team-mate Daniel Ricciardo. Vettel was fifth for Ferrari ahead of team-mate Kimi Räikkönen. The morning’s fastest man, Sainz, was seventh ahead of Toro Rosso team-mate Verstappen, while Sauber’s Felipe Nasr was ninth ahead of Lotus’ Pastor Maldonado.