A car failure for Esteban Gutierrez ends his session in the Haas.

He parks just before the Degner section and the recovery vehicles rumble into action.

Another tidy lap from championship leader Rosberg, 

On his first qualifying simulation run after strapping on the soft tyres the German sets a 1:32.250 - a couple of tenths up on his best time in the opening session. 

Team-mate Hamilton slots into second on his first quali sim lap - 0.072secs back. 

The Ferrari suddenly looks in better shape too. Raikkonen has vaulted into third place, just three tenths behind Rosberg and half a second up on team-mate Vettel.

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Our discussion this morning relates to Lewis Hamilton's claim that F1 fans should be the ones to ask questions of drivers, not the media. 

So it seems right and proper to test the theory. What question would you ask Hamilton - or indeed any F1 driver - if you had their ear for a few fleeting seconds?

Suggestions via #bbcf1 please.

The Ferrari of Vettel is the first to do a lap on the quickest tyre compound - the soft. 

He does a 1:33.103 to take top spot, three tenths ahead of Hamilton's effort on the medium.

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Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer at Suzuka

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Red Bull quietly fancy their chances this weekend - if it rains, they think they can win it; if it’s dry, they feel they should at least be able to put some pressure on the Mercedes. “I think we will be racy,” Malaysian Grand Prix winner Daniel Ricciardo said. “It could bring us closer. Forgetting what happened last weekend, coming into this race we thought it would be one where we could have an advantage over Ferrari and if it wet we can get really close to Mercedes.” Lewis Hamilton said: “I think Red Bull will continue to be a threat. They were very quick in the last race. I think I had the answer to them but this is a medium-high downforce circuit and it is a track that is generally very strong for them as well, last year they were not too far off us here and I imagine they will be closer this year.”

Twenty minutes gone and predictably the Mercedes are out in front. Hamilton leads the way after posting a 1:33.475 on the medium tyre. Team-mate Rosberg is 0.283secs back on the same rubber.

Verstappen's Red Bull is fractionally slower in third, but his time was set on the hard tyre. 

Quite a moment for Daniil Kvyat as he exits the final turn, runs wide on to the outside of the track and spins a complete 360 onto the start-finish straight. 

The Toro Rosso man has not been on the radio to blame an octopus, or indeed any other marine life, but we'll keep you posted.

Nico Roserg comes on the radio to point out to his team that there was a lot of smoke kicking out the back of his car as he idled at the end of the pit lane. 

Replays show that was very much the case. 

However, he's running around OK for now so perhaps just a bit of overfill on the oil.

A lot of drivers on the hard tyre at the moment so times are some way off the best we saw in FP1 this morning. 

Just to remind you, Rosberg topped the early session with a 1:32.431.

Right now the leading times are in the low 1:34s, with the Ferrari of Vettel leading from team-mate Raikkonen. 

Yellow flagpublished at 06:09 British Summer Time 7 October 2016

06:09 BST 7 October 2016

Kevin Magnussen is off at the hairpin.

It wasn't a hugely dramatic moment for the Renault driver. A bouncy trip through the gravel later he's back on track.

FP2 begins. Rosberg was quickest by two tenths from Hamilton in the opening session - which Mercedes driver will be the happier in 90 minutes?

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A quick reminder that you can, should you wish, listen to events in Suzuka via the wireless. 

Jack Nicholls and Tom Clarkson are in the booth to guide you, along with out very own Andrew Benson - bereft of radio yet soldiering manfully on.

Click on the play tab above to listen in.

Let's break away for a moment to wish happy birthday to two of F1's nearly men.

Marco Apicella (51 today) is commonly believed to hold the record for the shortest F1 career in terms of distance travelled. The Italian's one and only GP - for Jordan at Monza 1993 - was over in an accident at the first corner, just 600 metres or so after it had begun. 

Still, that's 600m more than Vincenzo Sospiri (50 today), a one-time rising prospect in single-seater racing whose career (at least in F1 terms) was holed beneath the waterline when he pitched up to drive the Mastercard Lola in 1997, a team so fundamentally flawed they they disappeared after just one race where both cars were 11 seconds off the pace and failed to qualify.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images