Red Bull’s Daniil Kvyat capitalised on morning good form and set the fastest time for the Japanese GP free practice 2.
Meanwhile, Mercedes drivers Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton had to settle for 2nd and 3rd best times in a wet second practice.
The Russian beat Rosberg by just 0.023 seconds, with the world championship leader a further 0.553secs adrift.
After the session Hamilton said: “Have you heard of the term diddly squat? It has not been fun. There has not been a lot to learn.”
The other Red Bull in the hands of Daniel Ricciardo was fourth ahead of the Ferraris of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen, all three having off-track moments in the rain.
| Nr. | Driver | Team | Time | Laps | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | 26 - Daniil Kvyat | Red Bull Renault | 01:48.277 | 6 |
| 2 |  | 06 - Nico Rosberg | Mercedes AMG Petronas | 01:48.300 | 8 |
| 3 |  | 44 - Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes AMG Petronas | 01:48.853 | 8 |
| 4 |  | 03 - Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull Renault | 01:49.097 | 10 |
| 5 | | 05 - Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 01:50.268 | 19 |
| 6 |  | 07 - Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 01:50.319 | 16 |
| 7 |  | 55 - Carlos Sainz | Scuderia Toro Rosso | 01:50.418 | 6 |
| 8 |  | 33 - Max Verstappen | Scuderia Toro Rosso | 01:50.542 | 5 |
| 9 |  | 12 - Felipe Nasr | Sauber Ferrari | 01:50.968 | 10 |
| 10 |  | 13 - Pastor Maldonado | Lotus Mercedes | 01:51.557 | 7 |
| 11 | | 27 - Nico Hulkenberg | Force India Mercedes | 01:51.674 | 11 |
| 12 | | 22 - Jenson Button | McLaren Honda | 01:51.861 | 9 |
| 13 |  | 09 - Marcus Ericsson | Sauber Ferrari | 01:51.934 | 12 |
| 14 |  | 11 - Sergio Perez | Force India Mercedes | 01:52.070 | 8 |
| 15 |  | 08 - Romain Grosjean | Lotus Mercedes | 01:52.534 | 6 |
| 16 | | 19 - Felipe Massa | Williams Mercedes | 01:52.765 | 6 |
| 17 | | 14 - Fernando Alonso | McLaren Honda | 01:55.239 | 10 |
| 18 | | 28 - Will Stevens | Manor Ferrari | 01:58.059 | 6 |
| 19 |  | 53 - Alexander Rossi | Manor Ferrari | 01:59.419 | 7 |
| 20 | | 77 - Valtteri Bottas | Williams Mercedes | 0 |
