Red Bull driver fastest from Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton, although wet conditions prevent representative times at Suzuka
Tuesday 29 September 2015 10:45, UK
Daniil Kvyat was fastest before rain returned during Friday's second practice session for the Japanese GP at Suzuka.
The Red Bull driver lapped the 3.6-mile track in a time of 1:48.277s to go 0.023 seconds faster than Nico Rosberg, with Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton third ahead of Kvyat's own team-mate Daniel Ricciardo.
Much as was the case in P1, however, the conditions prevented drivers from setting representative times. It seemed possible at the start of the session: the earlier rain had stopped and although the track was still wet, a dry line might have appeared had the weather held off.
But instead the rain returned about halfway through the 90-minute session, and few cars ventured out thereafter.
As such, both sessions offer next to no indication about what might prevail later this weekend. After Mercedes' mysterious poor showing in Singapore, the question is whether that performance was a one-off.
We should start getting an answer on Saturday, when the forecast is set to improve. But the world champions themselves seem confident that Suzuka will suit them much better.
"You don't want to take too many risks today, damaging the car, damaging the gearbox or anything like that," Hamilton told Sky Sports News HQ. "Today we were just practicing starts and getting a couple of laps in, but there wasn't really an awful lot to learn.
Ahead of Saturday's third practice, the world champion added: "I hope it's dry. Today is a shame for the fans; so many have turned up, but they've been sitting in the rain and not seeing many cars go round.
"It must be a bit boring for them."
Singapore GP winner Sebastian Vettel was fifth fastest on Friday afternoon ahead of Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen with Toro Rosso pair Carlos Sainz - fastest in P1 - and Max Verstappen seventh and eighth.
Verstappen joined the likes of Raikkonen and Pastor Maldonado in exploring the limit of the conditions a little too closely and took to the grass, although there were no accidents as such with most drivers staying in the garage once the rain returned.
Fernando Alonso bucked the trend, however, after an engine change on his McLaren-Honda forced him to miss the first half of the session.
So, after the rain returned and the rest of field came back into the pits, the Spaniard headed out into the murk in order to try and gain valuable mileage. In contrast, Williams driver Valtteri Bottas didn't bother taking to the track at all.
Alonso ended the afternoon 17th fastest, 6.9s off Kvyat's pace and over three seconds slower than team-mate Jenson Button, who was 12th.
Practice Two timesheet:
1. D Kvyat, Red Bull, 1:48.277
2. N Rosberg, Mercedes, 1:48.300
3. L Hamilton, Mercedes, 1:48.853
4. D Ricciardo, Red Bull, 1:49.097
5. S Vettel, Ferrari, 1:50.268
6. K Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1:50.319
7. C Sainz, Toro Rosso, 1:50.418
8. M Verstappen, Toro Rosso, 1:50.542
9. F Nasr, Sauber, 1:50.968
10. P Maldonado, Lotus, 1:51.557
11. N Hulkenberg, Force India, 1:51.674
12. J Button, McLaren, 1:51.861
13. M Ericsson, Sauber, 1:51.934
14. S Perez, Force India, 1:52.070
15. R Grosjean, Lotus, 1:52.534
16. F Massa, Williams, 1:52.765
17. F Alonso, McLaren, 1:55.239
18. W Stevens, Manor, 1:58.059
19. A Rossi, Manor, 1:59.419
20. V Bottas, Williams, No time
