The action for Round 5 begins with the second free practice session of the weekend on the debuting Tokyo track, which finally appears to be completely dry.
The best early lap of the session was put in by Envision’s Buemi in 1:29.412s, later improved by reigning champion Jake Dennis, who had ended yesterday’s practice session at the bottom of the standings, and his teammate Frijns.
With 22 minutes in the session the first red flag of the day was issued due to Di Grassi making contact with the wall and leaving pieces of his ABT on track. During the break, Dennis leads from Wehrlein and Ticktum.
FP2 resumed with 18 minutes on the clock. The first driver to improve after the restart is Andretti’s Nato, looking for revenge after a tough event in Sao Paulo. The Frenchman is also the first driver to lap in the 1:20s at the track.
At the halfway point in the session, Nissan’s Rowland holds the top spot from Wehrlein and Frijns, with the British driver hoping to extend his podium streak at his team’s first ever home round. Rowland also had a moment with a slower Maserati driver, while he was on a faster lap, which didn’t please the Brit.
The Jaguars however should never be disregarded while talking about a podium finish, with Evans and Cassidy cycling at P2 and P3.
Evans went on to take the lead of the session with 10 minutes to go, with his time bested by Mortara’s 1:19.910s The Mahindra driver brushed the wall while on his fast lap attempt, which secured him the provisional record for fastest Japanese lap at the track.
With five minutes to go, Rowland leads from Nato and an impressive Da Costa.
Championship leader Cassidy ran straight at the Turn 16/17 combo, as he is still getting used to the track limits. Mahindra’s De Vries pits after leaving his front wing on track at Turn 5.
Frijns is another driver still testing the limits of the new track, running wide off track at Turn 1. In the final, heated moments of the session, Evans takes the lead with a 1:19.329s, as Rowland slots in P2 ahead of Gunther, who once again after a quiet session is able to put everything together at the last minute.
Stay tuned for qualifying in a couple of hours!
