There were umbrellas raised around the paddock and the grandstands and while it was not the sort of downpour we saw in Singapore last week it was clearly going to bring an element of drama to today’s race. There was the green light in the pit-lane and we had cars heading out on track for the first time today… and it was indeed wet!
Intermediates on for every driver. There was not enough standing water for full wets. Charles Leclerc was told over radio that the rain is expected to stay at its current intensity for the first 30 minutes or so, before becoming heavier. That could create some major drama, with a switch from intermediate to wet tyres anticipated before the race start.
All drivers were on intermediate tyres as the formation lap got under way and we were ready for a standing start!
It was neck and neck off the line but Max Verstappen out braked Charles Leclerc into the first corner and just held onto the lead! Unfortunately Scuderia Ferrari Spanish driver Carlos Sainz crashed out of the race, and so was Alex Albon. No contact in that incident for Carlos: replays showed him losing control as the car aquaplaned into the wall. Albon, meanwhile, appeared to have suffered a technical issue. With the rain intensifying, race control took the decision to bring out the red flag, as the spray at Suzuka was just too bad.
The drivers were heading back to the pits after a few crashes on those opening laps and the rain was getting a lot harder at this stage.
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With the rain still falling pretty heavily, most of the drivers were taking cover in their garages, as race control announced that the race would resume at 6.50am UK time with a rolling start procedure.
During the break we also saw why Pierre Gasly and other drivers was so incensed after the red flag. The AlphaTauri driver, running at the back of the field, passed a recovery tractor on track during the Safety Car. After Jules Bianchi’s death following a crash at Suzuka in similar conditons, Pierre Gasly was understandably furious.
“What is this tractor on track?” he said on team radio. “I passed next to it. This is unacceptable. Remember what happened. Can’t believe this!”
As we were approaching 6.50, race control informed that the Japanese GP restart was suspended: the rain hadn’t eased off quite as much as hoped and the race restart, which was supposed to be in one minute, has been suspended. That was the worst possible timing for the teams as they had just queued the cars at the end of the pits. Race control must have seen something very heavy on the radar.
“Even behind a Safety Car we are going at 100 or 150kph and still at those speeds we don’t see nothing. If one driver decides to get a bit out of the racing line or has a small aquaplaning or has to change a switch on the steering wheel and gets a bit out of line and hits a tractor, it’s over. I still don’t know why we keep risking, in these conditions, having a tractor on track. You were going to red flag it anyway, so why risk it?” – the Ferrari driver pointed out.
The Medical Car was out on track testing the conditions and eventually there was that announcement we had been waiting for: the race would resume at 8:15am, which left about 48 minutes of possible race time. It was a long wait, but we had Formula 1 cars back on the track in Suzuka, albeit behind the Safety Car. There was delight from the grandstands, as the fans hoped we were not far away from some actual racing!
Despite drivers protestations, it looks like we were going to get a rolling start here: the Safety Car was coming in at the end of this lap and Max Verstappen was backing up the field! The Dutchman led the field back into Turn One and you could barely see Charles Leclerc behind him!
Sebastian Vettel and Nicholas Latifi took a gamble as both come in for intermediate tyres. And their call seemed to be the right one, as two laps laters the leaders also changed to inters. Fernando Alonso, who was sixth, stayed out and was now in the lead. George Russell was hampered as Mercedes double-stacked him behind Lewis Hamilton, and came out in 14th. Fernando Alonso’s gamble came to an end – he pits a lap later than others off the intermediate tyres, but Mick Schumacher stayed out but was passed by Max Verstappen on the straight – so the Red Bull driver was in the lead again. Charles Leclerc has also got past Ferrari junior Mick Schumacher, so he was second again.
Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc were in a league of their own – they were over two seconds quicker per lap than anyone else. Unfortunately after a few fast laps, the Monegasque driver was really struggling with his tyres and was 7.5 seconds behind the Dutchman. It looked like we are going to go over half distance in terms of laps here, meaning there would be half points. The Red Bull man was therefore aiming for a maximum 13 points for a win, and so needed Charles to finish fifth or lower to win the title.
“How many positions do we lose if we box,” says Charles over the team radio, as his tyres had obviously fallen off a cliff with the gap to Verstappen over 10 seconds. He was told he would come out in seventh, behind Fernando Alonso.
10 minutes to go at Suzuka and while Verstappen is well clear of Charles Leclerc – 16 seconds – there were plenty of battles on track: Hamilton was still just behind Ocon, while Perez was closing right in on the F1-75 of Charles. The Mexican was all over the back of the Monegasque’s Ferrari, who at this stage was badly struggling with tyre degradation, but with some great defending skills, Charles was able to hold and take second place in the Japanese Grand Prix! And we were on Lap 28 – so there were 19 points awarded to the winner, but still not enough for the title for Max Verstappen.
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