Force India’s Adrian Sutil set the fastest time in a soaking wet second free practice session for the Japanese grand prix at Suzuka.
The heavy rain and a limited supply of tyres with which to tackle it contributed to an almost total washout of the second 90 minutes.
The bad weather hit the Suzuka area between the two free practice sessions on Friday, saturating the track and creating small rivers of water that formed at various points around of the circuit as the precipitation continued throughout the 90 minutes
See the hi-res picture gallery from Suzuka
Two Toro Rossos went for an exploratory lap early in the session, but they soon retreated back to the garage and it was almost an hour before any other driver came back out.
Second quickest was Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel ahead of the second Force India of Vitantonio Liuzzi. Lewis Hamilton was fourth in his McLaren, while both Brawn GP cars opted to sit out of the sessions entirely.
Times taken from second free practice:
1. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:47.2612. Vettel Red Bull-Renault + 0.6623. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes + 0.6704. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes + 0.7225. Nakajima Williams-Toyota + 0.7976. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1.4307. Alonso Renault + 1.4328. Trulli Toyota + 1.4769. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1.54110. Kubica BMW-Sauber + 1.60011. Raikkonen Ferrari + 1.62512. Kobayashi Toyota + 1.79313. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 2.12114. Grosjean Renault + 2.14415. Fisichella Ferrari + 2.29216. Rosberg Williams-Toyota + 2.61117. Heidfeld BMW-Sauber + 2.91818. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes No time19. Button Brawn-Mercedes No time20. Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes No time
All timings unofficial
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