Suzuka Tag

Lewis Hamilton emerged as the quickest driver of a rain-shortened second practice session in Japan as just five drivers set times. The rain started just as the second practice session was about to begin and conditions quickly worsened from a light shower into a steady, heavy downpour that resulted in the session being indefinitely delayed. Over the next 40 minutes the safety car undertook regular reconnaissance tours of the circuit and eventually the rain abated to the degree that the track was deemed driveable at 1445 local time. Ferrari’s KimiRead More

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel went quickest in opening practice for the Japanese Grand Prix, beating Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton by two tenths of a second. The session was interrupted, however, by a heavy crash involving Carlos Sainz. Sainz’s smash came shortly after the midpoint of the session. The Toro Rosso driver ran wide on the entry to Turn 12, after the hairpin, and lost control of his car. The Spaniard spun across the track and arrowed nose first into the barriers, scattering debris across the surface. The session was immediately red-flagged asRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor The Japanese Grand Prix was first held all the way back in 1963 as a sports car race, it did not become an official Formula One Grand Prix until 1976 on and has been held 30 times since. The first two grands prix were at Fuji speedway near Tokyo, including the dramatic 1977 title decider where James Hunt won the World Championship over Niki Lauda. The race then dropped off the calendar for 10 years before it moved to its spiritual home of Suzuka Circuit inRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Sebastian Vettel must be thanking his lucky stars. After going out on the opening lap in Singapore, and starting from the back in Malaysia, he won’t have a gearbox change penalty for Japan. His bizarre cool down lap collision with Williams’ Lance Stroll tore the left rear wheel from his SF70H and the subsequent chassis damage indicated that the gearbox could be damaged as well. Ferrari flew the gearbox back to its headquarters in Maranello in order to give it a detailed examination. Today it gaveRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Max Verstappen secured his sixth podium finish of the season after finishing second in the Japanese Grand Prix, but came under the scrutiny after a controversial defensive move on Lewis Hamilton in the closing stages of the race. Verstappen led the three-time Formula 1 World Champion as they exited 130R, Hamilton began to surge and showed enough pace to pull alongside the Red Bull at the chicane but Verstappen closed the door under braking, forcing the Mercedes off the track and down the escape road. “IRead More

Nico Rosberg took a comfortable Japanese Grand Prix victory to extend his championship lead over arch-rival Lewis Hamilton with the defending champion’s race being compromised by a poor start that left him eighth after the first corner. The Briton recovered to finish third behind Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen but Rosberg now leads his Mercedes team-mate by 33 points with four races to go. At the start of the race Rosberg made a clean getaway, but Hamilton’s start was dreadful. He bogged down badly and was immediately overrun by rivals.Read More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Jenson Button is set to start last in the Japanese Grand Prix after taking a new power unit following qualifying. Honda had introduced an upgraded power unit for McLaren-Honda teammate Fernando Alonso for the Malaysia Grand Prix last weekend, the same that Button was waiting until the United States Grand Prix for in hopes to avoid a grid penalty at Honda’s home race at Suzuka. However, the 36-year-old Brit qualified a disappointing 17th and Honda decided the penalty is minimal and have upgraded Button’s power unitRead More

Nico Rosberg beat title rival Lewis Hamilton by the tiny margin of 0.013s to secure pole position for the Japanese Grand Prix. Third and fourth places were secured by Ferrari, with Kimi Raikkonen ahead of Sebastian Vettel, while Red Bull Racing qualified just behind with Max Verstappen fifth ahead of Daniel Ricciardo. Vettel though will drop to seventh on the grid due to a three-place penalty incurred last weekend in Malaysia. Rosberg set the early pace in Q1, setting a time of 1:31.858. That was good enough to eclipse HamiltonRead More

Nico Rosberg made it three sessions from three as he added top spot in final practice for the Japanese Grand Prix to the fastest times he set in both Friday sessions. The championship leader finished FP3 three tenths of a second clear of Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo as Lewis Hamilton ended the session in seventh place after failing to get in a clean lap in the final stages on a crowded track. Rain overnight and in the morning left the Suzuka circuit greasy and low on grip and theRead More

Nico Rosberg edged team-mate Lewis Hamilton by just seven hundredths of a second to take top in the second free practice of the Japanese Grand Prix weekend at Suzuka. Rosberg’s best time of the session was 1:32.250. After Ferrari ended the first practice session more than a second off the pace set by Rosberg, there was encouragement for the Italian squad, as Kimi Raikkonen got to within four tenths of Rosberg’s time at the end of the afternoon’s performance runs. In the morning it had been two-by-two, with Mercedes followedRead More