P1racenews AI automatic summary:
Verstappen completes Friday clean sweep in Suzuka
In the second hour of running, the Dutchman, Max Verstappen, set a new fastest time of 1:30.688s, reducing the benchmark time by a whole second. He maintained a 0.3s lead over his competitors, with Charles Leclerc emerging as his closest challenger, followed by Lando Norris. George Russell of Mercedes used the Soft tire to secure the fifth-fastest time, while his teammate Lewis Hamilton ended up in 14th place. Sergio Perez struggled once again and could only manage ninth place, a second behind Verstappen. Fernando Alonso, Alex Albon, and Oscar Piastri all finished inside the top 10. Valtteri Bottas provided some hope for Alfa Romeo with the 10th fastest time. Unfortunately, both Alpine cars failed to make it into the top half, with Esteban Ocon finishing in 12th place. Pierre Gasly had an accident at Degner 2 corner, resulting in a red flag and an early end to the session. Haas drivers Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen were 13th and 17th respectively. While AlphaTauri started well with both cars in the top 10, Yuki Tsunoda dropped to 18th place, and Logan Sargeant was the slowest of all.
Source: Motorsport Week
