Hot on the heels of Singapore, it’s the Japanese GP. Unfortunately it takes place in the middle of the night (my time) so I’ll be watching it later in the day… but hopefully not spread out over most of the week, like it was for me catching up with the rain-delayed Singapore race.
News since then:
- GAS has signed with Alpine for next season, and Nyck de Vries will replace him at AlphaTauri. Unfortunately RIC won’t have a seat next year. [F1]
- FIA have delayed the release of its inquiries into whether any team breached the sport’s budget cap last year, and rumours persist that it’s Red Bull and Aston Martin that are over budget. [BBC]
- Meanwhile ex-F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone will face trial in October 2023 over an alleged failure to declare about £400m in overseas assets. [BBC]
And remember that LAT has a 5-place grid penalty from the incident with ZHO on lap 7 of the previous race.
Qualifying session 1 (Q1)
Air temperature 19°C; track 27°C; humidity 57%
GAS 1:32.049
TSU 1:31.631
NOR 1:31.431
PER 1:30.622
VER 1:30.224
(SAI P2, LEC P3)
NOR runs wide out of Degner
Radio from GAS, “Problem with the brakes”
ALB’s lap time deleted for exceeding track limits
4mins left; bottom 5 are MAG, VET, HAM, LAT, ALB
HAM and RUS (P15) were the only ones to use medium tyres on their first run, but now they’re on softs
HAM P7, RUS P16
RUS P6, ZHO P16
LAT P14, SCH P16
VET P10, STR P16
Chequered flag; bottom 5 are STR, SCH, ZHO, MAG, ALB
STR P14, LAT P16
ZHO P8, NOR P16
SCH P11, MAG P16
NOR P8, TSU P16
TSU P12, GAS P16
ALB P16
Back of the grid: ALB, GAS, MAG, STR, LAT*
*LAT P20 so his 5-place penalty is irrelevant
Qualifying session 2
SAI 1:30.444
VER 1:30.346
5mins left; bottom 5 are NOR, VET, ZHO, SCH, TSU
TSU still complaining about his brakes; team says there’s nothing wrong – he just needs to get some heat into them
VET P5, BOT P11
Chequered flag; bottom 5 are BOT, NOR, ZHO, SCH, TSU
PER 1:29.925
BOT P11
ZHO P12
SCH P14
TSU P12
NOR P5, RUS P11
RUS P7, RIC P11
Middle of the grid: RIC, BOT, TSU, ZHO, SCH
Top 10 shootout is between PER, ALO, VER, OCO, HAM, SAI, RUS, NOR, LEC and VET
Replay of SCH frustrated behind TSU in the pit lane; SCH waits for the pit exit line then passes TSU
Qualifying session 3
Red Bull release VER right into the path of LEC
Everyone except VET on track; all on softs although HAM, RUS and OCO are on used tyres
Bit of jockeying for track position before they start their quick laps
VER crawling through 130R; NOR looks go up his inside but VER suddenly swerves to the left and NOR has to take to the grass to avoid a collision – ought to be a big penalty for VER
OCO 1:31.106
LEC 1:29.557
PER P2
SAI P2
NOR P4
VER 1:29.304
HAM P5
RUS P5
ALO P5
Order after the first run: VER, LEC, SAI, PER, ALO, RUS, HAM, NOR, OCO, VET
VET P6, ahead of both Mercedes
Incident involving NOR and VER will be investigated after the session
VET waving to the crowd as he heads back to the pits; “I will miss this place”
Rest of the top 10 are on track for a final flying lap
LEC P2
OCO P5
PER P4
SAI P3
Chequered flag
HAM P6
RUS P8
Front of the grid: VER, LEC, SAI, PER, OCO, HAM, ALO, RUS, VET, NOR
Provisional grid: VER, LEC, SAI, PER, OCO, HAM, ALO, RUS, VET, NOR, RIC, BOT, TSU, ZHO, SCH, ALB, GAS, MAG, STR, LAT
“Verstappen handed reprimand for Japanese GP qualifying incident with Norris but holds onto pole” [F1]
What a joke! If that had been anyone other than VER making that move, and especially if it had been coming up behind anyone else, there would definitely have been a big penalty – it was a dangerous move
