Yuki Tsunoda Shines In Japanese Grand Prix Practice On Red Bull Debut, Oscar Piastri Fastest

Oscar Piastri went fastest Friday for a McLaren one-two in a chaotic second practice for the Japanese Grand Prix that was red-flagged four times and saw Jack Doohan crash heavily. Two of the red flags were for trackside grass fires during a badly disrupted afternoon session in which Australia's Piastri clocked a best lap of 1min 28.114sec. He pipped teammate and championship leader Lando Norris by 0.049sec in dry but blustery conditions at Suzuka, where home hero Yuki Tsunoda showed promise on his Red Bull debut.

Piastri and Norris -- who went quickest in first practice -- have won one grand prix each in a dominant start to the season from McLaren.

Piastri, who won last time out in Shanghai, called it "a bit of an up-and-down day" after being 15th in first practice.

"But there's definitely been positives in there," he added.

"We've got a few things to tidy up for tomorrow."

Australian rookie Doohan was lucky to walk away unhurt after badly damaging his Alpine in a heavy smash into the barriers.

There was further drama when Spaniard Fernando Alonso beached his Aston Martin in the gravel and two fires broke out on the grass around the track.

RB's Isack Hadjar was third fastest, 0.404sec behind Piastri, followed by Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton and RB's Liam Lawson.

Mercedes' George Russell was sixth, followed by Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Red Bull's four-time world champion Max Verstappen.

His new teammate Tsunoda was a lowly 18th, 2.511sec behind Piastri, but without completing a representative lap on soft tyres. He was a promising sixth in the morning.

The Japanese driver said his closely watched first day in the Red Bull was "OK, but it could have been better".

"We didn't set a lap time in FP2 due to the number of stops