Jenson Button remained the quickest man in second practice after topping the times in the previous session for McLaren.
The 31-year-old set a best lap of 1:31.901, only narrowly ahead of Fernando Alonso in second, just 0.174 off the pace.
The two Red Bull cars then secured P3 and P4 with Sebastian Vettel, who crashed in FP1, the quicker of the two by half a tenth.
Felipe Massa completed the top five with Michael Schumacher, Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton just behind.
Rubens Barrichello caused severe damage to his Williams after going wide at Degner 1 and hitting the barrier at high speed.
His teammate, Pastor Maldonado, also retired from the session with a mechanical problem.
Kamui Kobayashi had a scary moment at the fast 130R corner but managed to pull off a great save as he risked taking the corner with the DRS open. So far only the Red Bulls and McLarens have managed to do so successfully.
Japanese GP Free Practice 2 Results:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01. | J. Button | McLaren | 1:31.901 | 32 | |
| 02. | F. Alonso | Ferrari | 1:32.075 | +0.174 | 33 |
| 03. | S. Vettel | Red Bull | 1:32.095 | +0.194 | 35 |
| 04. | M. Webber | Red Bull | 1:32.147 | +0.246 | 28 |
| 05. | F. Massa | Ferrari | 1:32.448 | +0.547 | 34 |
| 06. | M. Schumacher | Mercedes | 1:32.710 | +0.809 | 26 |
| 07. | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:32.982 | +1.081 | 27 |
| 08. | L. Hamilton | McLaren | 1:33.245 | +1.344 | 26 |
| 09. | V. Petrov | Renault | 1:33.446 | +1.545 | 36 |
| 10. | S. Buemi | Toro Rosso | 1:33.681 | +1.780 | 33 |
| 11. | J. Alguersuari | Toro Rosso | 1:33.705 | +1.804 | 25 |
| 12. | A. Sutil | Force India | 1:33.790 | +1.889 | 36 |
| 13. | S. Perez | Sauber | 1:34.393 | +2.492 | 35 |
| 14. | B. Senna | Renault | 1:34.557 | +2.656 | 27 |
| 15. | P. di Resta | Force India | 1:34.601 | +2.700 | 33 |
| 16. | K. Kobayashi | Sauber | 1:36.038 | +4.137 | 33 |
| 17. | H. Kovalainen | Team Lotus | 1:36.225 | +4.324 | 35 |
| 18. | R. Barrichello | Williams | 1:37.123 | +5.222 | 14 |
| 19. | T. Glock | Team Lotus | 1:37.440 | +5.539 | 30 |
| 20. | J. d’Ambrosio | Virgin | 1:38.093 | +6.192 | 30 |
| 21. | P. Maldonado | Williams | 1:38.387 | +6.486 | 16 |
| 22. | D. Ricciardo | HRT | 1:38.763 | +6.862 | 36 |
| 23. | J. Trulli | Team Lotus | 1:39.800 | +7.899 | 24 |
| 24. | V. Liuzzi | HRT | 1:42.480 | +10.579 | 4 |
