Japan – Free Practice 2: Rosberg 3rd ahead of the Lotus

As the green lights illuminate at the end of the pit lane at the Suzuka circuit, many drivers leave their garage to hit the track, not without first performing a small start test.

Regarding the weather, it’s sunny in Japan with 29 degrees in the air and 40 on the track. Ideal conditions for this second practice session. It should be noted that on the side of the French drivers, Jules Bianchi will not participate in this session following a major off-track excursion in the morning. The chassis of his Marussia is too damaged.

1:36.722, the first time of this afternoon set by Pastor Maldonado. The Venezuelan is immediately surpassed by Nico Hülkenberg with a 1:36.625. The German, who is the favorite to join Lotus in 2014, sees his time improved by the two Toro Rosso drivers Vergne and Ricciardo.

Shortened day for Pastor Maldonado who crashes his Williams in the double right towards the end of sector 1. The Venezuelan had already gone off this morning.

After the first quarter of an hour, it’s Sebastian Vettel who is ahead of everyone with a time of 1:34.487. He is followed by Rosberg and Webber.

On a traditional track where the slightest mistake is costly, Sergio Pérez is the latest victim. The McLaren driver puts two wheels on the grass approaching Spoon and loses control of his car.

Valtteri Bottas is the first driver to switch to medium tires with a little over an hour of testing remaining. The Finn improves his time by only two-tenths and remains 16th in the standings.

Mark Webber takes the best time with the record (1:34.040) in the second sector. Rosberg places behind the Australian while Fernando Alonso has a small spin in the double right of Degner.

With the medium tires on the cars, times improve and the hierarchy evolves with each lap. Midway through the session, Vettel remains ahead of Webber, Rosberg, Räikkönen, and Grosjean. The Lotus cars seem to be handling much better with the mediums than with Pirelli’s hard range. At the bottom of the standings, Pic is at the back. He is preceded by Chilton and Van der Garde. At Sauber, Hülkenberg is only 17th and is complaining a lot about the behavior of his car, a lack of grip on the Sauber. His teammate is 11th.

And as is the case during every Friday afternoon session, this second part of the practice is dedicated to race simulations. The DRS remains closed and lap times no longer improve for long minutes.

Räikkönen adds his name to the list of drivers who got caught out this Friday. Iceman loses control of his Lotus at the exit of the esses and gets stuck in the gravel. There are 35 minutes left in this second free practice. Apart from a few minor scares for Pic, Chilton, and Vettel, there is nothing notable in these final minutes. The final top 5 consists of Sebastian Vettel with a time of 1:33.852. He is followed by Webber, Rosberg, Räikkönen, and Grosjean.

Note that Jules Bianchi, after going off track this morning in FP1, was unable to take part in FP2 as the chassis of his car was not repaired. The French driver, slightly injured, is expected to participate in the practice session tomorrow morning.

Free Practice 2 Rankings of the 2013 Japanese Grand Prix: