Daniil Kvyat topped the second practice session for the Japanese Grand Prix as rain continued to fall on Friday afternoon.
The rain eased off ahead of the start of the second session, allowing drivers to head out on intermediate tyres. Initially the two Mercedes drivers topped the timesheets, but Kvyat managed a lap 0.023s quicker than Nico Rosberg on one of his six laps on the intermediates. Lewis Hamilton was third fastest ahead of the second Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo, but with no dry running all Friday the relative pace of the front-running cars remains a mystery.
A number of drivers ran wide in the wet but none suffered major damage to the car. The most bizarre incident came early in the session when Pastor Maldonado drove clean off the track as he appeared to take his eye off the road on the exit of Turn 2. The conditions worsened in the final 30 minutes as the rain returned, resulting in a number of drivers reporting aquaplaning over the radio. Sebastian Vettel recorded the most laps from the session but the majority decided to stay in the garage.
Valtteri Bottas was the only driver not to attempt a single lap, while Fernando Alonso remained in the garage for most of the first hour as McLaren changed parts following FP1. However, with dry weather forecast for the rest of the weekend, the lack of running should not be too punishing for either Bottas or Alonso.