Suzuka Tag

By FIA Valtteri Bottas led the way for Mercedes as the championship-leading team took the top two positions in the opening practice session for the Japanese Grand Prix. Prior to the start of the session the FIA confirmed that due to the approach of Typhoon Hagibis all activities scheduled to take place at Suzuka tomorrow on Saturday, 12 October have been cancelled. Qualifying will now take place at 10am local time on Sunday morning, with the race scheduled for its normal 2.10pm start. The FIA later issued a further updatingRead More

The 2017 Formula One season has been one of the more intense as fans have enjoyed a battle between Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel, two well established titans of the past decade. However, with Ferrari’s recent struggles, all looks lost for Vettel to wage a proper battle. The group weighs in on that, plus several other topics as this weekend’s United States Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas draws ever closer. The obvious question first, with Lewis Hamilton’s lead of 59 points over Sebastian Vettel and a collapsing FerrariRead More

Frank Santoroski and the Drafting the Circuits panel — Joey Barnes, Gray Warren & Richard Youden — breaks down Charlotte, previews Talladega, and has an in-depth debate regarding the pluses and minuses of the F1 safety car. Credits: Host – Frank Santoroski DTC Panel – Joey Barnes, Gray Warren, & Richard Youden Producers – Anthony Arnold & Keith Hayes Special thanks to Whoobazoo for hosting the DTC Podcast. Social Media: Follow DTC on Facebook Follow DTC on Twitter Follow Whoobazoo on Twitter Note: Also heard on iHeartRadio and iTunes.Read More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief There is a lot to be proud of at Haas F1 Team as both Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean put in a stout effort in the Japanese Grand Prix as the team scored double-points for just the second time in their short Formula One history. Magnussen’s day started from 12th and drove a masterful race and capped it off with a tough wheel-to-wheel battle with Williams’ Felipe Massa in Turn 1 on Lap 42 en route to an eight-place finish. The aggressive move also opened theRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Sebastian Vettel saw his chances at a fifth Formula One championship dealt its biggest blow yet with an early retirement from Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix. It was the third consecutive weekend that Scuderia Ferrari have dealt with problems at the start of the race in some form or another. The 30-year-old German was leading the championship up to the Italian Grand Prix, but with just four rounds left in 2017 he now sits second behind Mercedes rival Lewis Hamilton – who stretched his margin out toRead More

Lewis Hamilton edged closer to a fourth Formula One world championship title as he kept Red Bull’s Max Verstappen at bay to take a third career Japanese Grand Prix win. It was a disastrous day for Sebastian Vettel, however, as a spark plug problem forced Hamilton’s only real title contender to retire from the race on lap five. Hamilton now has a 59-point lead over Vettel with four races remaining. At the start Hamilton got away well to hold his lead. Initially Vettel too looked to be in good shapeRead More

Lewis Hamilton took his 71st career pole position and his first at Japan’s Suzuka Circuit as he beat Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas by three tenths of a second with Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel third. However, title contender Vettel will start alongside championship leader Hamilton on the front row as Bottas is set for a grid penalty due to an unscheduled gearbox change. Hamilton set the pace in Q1, rising to the top of the timesheet around 10 minutes into the session with a lap of 1:29.047 on soft tyres. He wasRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Fernando Alonso has been assessed a 35-place grid penalty after his McLaren-Honda team had to change out the power unit and will start the Japanese Grand Prix. The big blow comes at Honda’s home race after the engine was found to have a hydraulic issue following the second practice session, leaving the team to break curfew for the second time this season in order to complete the task. The 36-year-old Spaniard’s tally of power unit work has become lengthy this Formula One season – Six controlRead More

Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas topped the final practice timesheet at Suzuka at the end of a session that was twice halted by red flags, first as Bottas himself hit the barriers and then for a crash involving Ferrari’s Kimi Räikkönen. Bottas posted a best time of 1:29.055s on soft tyres early in the session to finish 0.014s clear of team-mate Lewis Hamilton, with Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel in third place, with a time set soon in the final third of the hour on supersoft tyres. In the opening period, with the Mercedes drivers outRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Valtteri Bottas is set for a five place grid penalty for Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix, by virtue of an unscheduled gearbox change for the No. 77 W08. The controversial engine and gearbox change grid penalties, which Ross Brawn is considering banning for 2018 and beyond have proved costly for many drivers, and this penalty for Bottas comes at the worst time for Mercedes. FP2 was a washout as the skies above Suzuka Circuit dropped a deluge of rain on the track, but in FP1 the topRead More