[jfxavier]

One of the greatest tracks used in Formula One racing today, Japan's Suzuka circuit is a massive test of car and driver ability, featuring low, medium and high speed corners, fast changes of direction, technical sections, a chicane, a hairpin, and the high-speed 130R and the famous Spoon Curve. On top of this the circuit's figure-of-eight layout which makes it unique in F1 racing. It is a high-downforce circuit that allows F1 cars to demonstrate their full range of capability. The track is narrow and passing is difficult – but there are many places at which overtaking can be attempted.



Timings in IST :



Circuit Details:



Circuit length : 5.807km/3.608 miles

Race distance : 53 laps (full world championship points will be awarded after 75 per cent distance/40 laps)

Distance to Turn One : 350m/0.217 miles

Longest straight : 900m/0.559 miles, on the approach to the Chicane

Top speed : 330km/h/205mph, on the approach to the Chicane

Pitlane length : 413m/0.257 miles, estimated time loss 23s

Full throttle : 65 per cent, with the longest period of full throttle being 16s

DRS zones : One, on the approach to Turn One

Fuel consumption : 1.89 per lap, which is average

ERS demands : Medium. An interesting mix of slow, medium and fast corners tests every aspect of car performance, including the ERS

Brake wear : Low. Only 10 per cent of the lap is spent braking, with only one significant braking event, into the Chicane

Gear changes : 42 per lap/2,226 per race

Safety Car likelihood : High. There’s a 60 per cent chance of a Safety Car because accidents are usually high-speed and result in a lot of debris

Tyres:
Track temperatures can vary massively, from very warm weather to cold and wet conditions. Teams tend to run a high downforce set-up to maximise speed through the fast corners. Plenty of energy goes through tyres because many corners are very long, maximising loads. The famous 130R, for example, contains the highest continuous g-force loading of the year.
There are few longitudinal forces: instead Suzuka is all about lateral loads through corners.
These factors tend to lead to high levels of wear and degradation, with more than one pit stop.
Track evolution can be hard to predict: strategy also needs to remain flexible because of the possibility of safety cars and relative difficulty of overtaking at Suzuka.



PAUL HEMBERY, PIRELLI MOTORSPORT DIRECTOR:
“Suzuka is a race that everybody looks forward to coming to: there’s little left to say that hasn’t been said already about the amazing welcome we receive each year from the Japanese fans and the depth of their enthusiasm and knowledge. For the first time we bring the soft tyre to Suzuka, which should provide a different aspect to the strategy, so we may have some tactical thinking right from qualifying on Saturday. Whatever happens, we’ll be seeing the hard tyre used during the race, as was the case in Malaysia, and also high wear and degradation: which always additionally provides varied strategic opportunities.”

History:
Having entered the Isle of Man TT in 1959, Honda decided that they needed a permanent track that would be used as a testing ground for the company’s motorbikes and cars. Early in 1960 Suzuka was selected as the site of the future circuit. The original plan was for a flat circuit that would be constructed through rice fields, but this was shelved and a revised plan was put in place by the end of 1960 that would see the track built in its current location, the hillside providing natural elevation change. Honda sent a team to Europe to analyse European racetracks construction and management, and brought in Dutchman John Hugenholtz to rework the design of the track. The proposed track at the new site originally saw the track have two additional crossover points inside the modern esseses section, but these were eliminated as the project proceeded (only the one crossover remained to give the track its figure of eight layout– still, this means the Suzuka circuit runs both clockwise and anti-clockwise, a unique challenge on the F1 calendar). The track was completed in late in 1962, and the track held the first Japan National Road Racing Championships based on the Isle of Mann TT rules in November 1962 and held the first race designated as the Japanese Grand Prix, a non-championship sportscar event that was staged 1963. However, the first F1 World Championship Japanese Grand Prix would be staged at Fuji in 1976, the race won by Mario Andretti for Lotus but made famous for McLaren’s James Hunt sealing the world championship by coming third as championship leader Niki Lauda stopped his Ferrari early on, deeming the treacherous conditions too risky to continue. The Grand Prix continued at Fuji in 1977, with James Hunt taking the win, but the race was marred by the death of a marshall and photographer, with several spectators also injured. This led to the cancellation of the Japanese Grand Prix in 1978, and the race would stay off the calendar until it was revived in 1987, back at the Suzuka Circuit.
And - 2007/8 aside - at Suzuka the race has stayed ever since, providing the scene for many nail-biting end-of-season deciders, including the now infamous collisions involving Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna.
Such moments only added to Suzuka's appeal with fans, with the Grand Prix now attracting some of the most passionate and knowledgeable crowds in F1 racing.
What to expect in 2016:
After the heartbreak of his Mercedes PU failure in Malaysia, Lewis has an immediate chance to get back at Nico in Japan this weekend. Nico has been on pole here the last two seasons for Mercedes, but Lewis has come away with the victory each time – and he will need a victory here if his hope of a third consecutive title are not to slip away. The run to the first corner could prove to be the decisive moment in the weekend in the battle between the Mercedes pair.


Mercedes, meanwhile, are strongly favored to clinch the Constructors’ Championship this weekend.
Red Bull will be buoyed by their superb result in Malaysia which has seen them eclipse a disappointing Ferrari in the battle for best of the rest, while behind them there is still plenty to play for as the battle for fourth place in the constructors championship between Force India and Williams continues to rage.


McLaren Honda will have huge support from Honda’s home crowd cheering them on as they continue to move towards the sharp end of the grid.

Source : Teams previews, FIA media kit, Formula1 website

[jfxavier]

Teams Previews:

Mercedes
Nico Rosberg
“Sunday was not great for us, unfortunately. My race was almost over before it even began and I feel for Lewis, as I've been there myself and it sucks big time to have all those points taken away from you just like that. For the guys too, seeing all their hard work destroyed in a couple of moments must be pretty brutal - especially right at the end of such a physically demanding weekend. But you cannot underestimate how strong this team is. We'll hit back even harder. Of course, the result in Malaysia went in my favour in the title battle. That's a fact and I cannot pretend otherwise. But I haven't been thinking about the points situation all season and I'm not going to start now. I'm here to win races and that's the aim every time. Suzuka is the next opportunity and I'd love to stand on top of the podium there. It's one of the truly great, classic race tracks, where all the legends have won, so it would be an honour to add my name to that list. I need to improve on my last performances there, where it hasn't ever really come together. But I think I've shown this season that I've learned a lot from the past two years, so I'm confident I can get on top of this challenge. Hopefully it will be a great weekend and a good close battle for those awesome Japanese fans.”
Lewis Hamilton
“Of course, last weekend was a massive disappointment. Not just for me personally but for the whole team. But there's no use dwelling on these things. That's just negative energy. All we can do is focus on the next race, taking things one step at a time and doing the best job we can. There's no substitute for hard work and I've never been afraid of that. The guys are hurting from what happened too and I know they'll be working just as hard to get things right next time. It's not the lowest point I've had. There have been lower moments for sure. Regardless, I will find strength from within to fight back over these next five race weekends. If I can perform like I did last weekend and the car holds together, then good things can still come my way. I love the Suzuka circuit and I've been quick there for the past two years, so hopefully that trend will continue. I know I'll have some fantastic support in the grandstands to lift me up and give me that extra boost. The energy from the fans in Malaysia was the best I've ever seen there and now we're going to Japan, where they just seem to find another level every year. It's insane how crazy they go for the sport and I get a real buzz out of that. Fingers crossed I can make it happen to pay them back for all the love and strength they send my way.”
Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport
“Last weekend was a particularly tough one. But words won't change that now. We pick ourselves up, brush the dust off and look ahead to the next race. With regards to Lewis, we've talked amongst ourselves and said "how is this possible?" But there is no rational explanation or pattern in these failures. If there were, we would resolve it. We've had that discussion with him and he understands that we are feeling his pain too. Despite his frustration, he has been trying to pick the team up and we admire him even more than ever for that. We will bounce back from this together. It's tough when these things come at a crucial point in a Championship battle. It's a massive blow to his campaign. But the Championship isn't over yet. There are still five faces to go. It will be tough of course, as Nico is driving better than ever before. He proved that in Singapore and then again with a great recovery in Malaysia. We will let them battle it out on track over the next five races - hopefully without any reliability woes - and then see where we are. One thing is for sure - we are not going to talk any more about winning Championships before it has happened. We will keep both feet on the ground and do the best we can in every area until the job is done.”
Paddy Lowe, Executive Director (Technical)
“Malaysia was a bitter pill to swallow. We let Lewis down in a big way. We are continuing to investigate the issue with his engine are doing everything we can to ensure that it is first understood and then contained for the remainder of the season. As it stands, despite the failure of this engine, Lewis now has the same stock of Power Units as Nico for the remaining five races - including used Power Units which he can fit for free practice sessions. So, hopefully there will be no further impact to his programme. Looking ahead to Suzuka, we have the same tyre compound allocation as nominated for Malaysia with the Hard, Medium and Soft. However, this is a very different race track to Sepang. It's one of the most demanding circuits of the season for the handling of a car, with many drivers also considering it one of the most demanding of driver skill. There are some quite tricky lines and sequences to get right - particularly the 'Esses' and the famous '130R' corner. Japan has some of the most enthusiastic fans that we see in the entire season and we really look forward to the incredible welcome that they give to the teams. Their passion for the sport is fantastic to see, so we hope to put on a great race. History has not often failed us in that respect at this iconic circuit, so it should be an exciting weekend ahead.”

McLaren
Fernando Alonso
“Japan is an incredible place and a country I always love visiting. The support we receive is phenomenal and makes the whole experience even more special. I love the people, the food and the culture, and our few days there for the Japanese Grand Prix are something I look forward to each year. I hope we can start the weekend on a positive note and keep pushing forward – we’ve maximised our package well over the past few races and it would be fantastic to finish in the points again at the team’s second home race.”
“Like me, many drivers love going back to Suzuka every year and it’s easy to see why. It’s a classic ‘drivers’ circuit’ and its configuration is unusual, demanding and very unforgiving, so putting together a good lap is really satisfying, and all these characteristics make it really popular with both drivers and fans. It’s a difficult circuit to set up the car perfectly for because the track temperatures change so much with the unpredictable weather, but we know this circuit well and will use the Friday sessions to dial the car in to the conditions and get the most out of it.”
Jenson Button
“The Suzuka circuit is incredible – almost in a class of its own on the calendar. It’s as close to a ‘perfect’ track as you can get in terms of having all of the different elements you would want as a driver. It’s fast, technical, difficult, rewarding, and really fun to drive, so it’s up there among the best. My win there in 2011 is definitely one of my favourites because to do well there you have to put so much into it, and when you get a good result it’s the best feeling.”
“The Japanese Grand Prix is always one of my highlights of the year. I love going back to Japan and the fans there make it incredibly special. They give us 110% support throughout the whole week, right from the minute we arrive in Tokyo, and as drivers we really feed off that enthusiasm. As it’s another home race for us, we’ll be very busy in the lead up to the weekend itself, and it’s an important grand prix for the whole team, so I hope we can fight hard and get the best result we can to give something back to the enthusiastic fans.”
Eric Boullier, Racing Director
“I know I can speak for the whole team when I talk about the Japanese Grand Prix being one of the most important milestones in the Formula 1 calendar for everyone at McLaren-Honda. It marks the end of the sequence of races in east Asia and, with Silverstone, a venue that very much feels like a second home.
“Suzuka circuit is steeped in a huge amount of racing history, and one that McLaren-Honda has played a significant part in, both as one team and as individual entities. Its fast, flowing corners and technical demands mean it fully deserves its legendary status and, combined with the unrivalled support we receive from the ever-enthusiastic Japanese fans, the warm hospitality and fascinating culture, it’s easy to see why we look forward to returning to Suzuka for the Japanese Grand Prix each year.
“Our double points finish in Sepang was great encouragement and reward for the relentless hard work happening behind the scenes in Woking and Sakura, and we’ll take this motivation to Suzuka, where we hope to achieve similar results. The race itself is sure to be dramatic – it often is at this prestigious circuit – so we hope to maximise the potential our package has shown recently and put on a good show for the incredible fans.”
Yusuke Hasegawa, Honda R&D Co Ltd Head of F1 Project & Executive Chief Engineer
“Suzuka is a very special place and an important race weekend, of course for Honda but also for me personally – I have great memories of racing there with Formula 1 in years gone by. I am thankful for all the very knowledgeable and enthusiastic F1 fans, who expect a lot from us, but are very understanding at the same time. I hope that our team's progress encourages more spectators to join us at Suzuka and help increase McLaren-Honda's fan base.
“Suzuka is a track highly rated by the drivers for its technical and complex nature. In order to succeed there, there must be a good balance between the power unit and chassis. We will do our utmost to set up the car to hopefully score more points and be within reach of the top three teams. I hope that we can have a race that we can be proud of, and that our fans can be proud of, too.”

Force India
Vijay Mallya, Team principal
“We head to Suzuka off the back of a very strong weekend in Sepang. Scoring twelve points strengthened our fourth place in the championship and showed, once again, that the VJM09 is a car that is competitive on any kind of circuit. I think we were a little unlucky with how the race unfolded, but we made the most of the situation and came away with some important points. It means we can arrive in Suzuka confident of another competitive performance. The team is working extremely hard, the drivers are extracting the performance from the car, and we are looking forward to the challenge that awaits us this weekend.”
Nico Hulkenberg
“Suzuka is one of my favourite tracks - it's just got a great flow. You go from one corner straight into to the next and it's a proper old-school track; it's so much fun to drive, especially in qualifying when you have low fuel, soft tyres and lots of grip. You have some high-speed sections, but the main feature is the great rhythm you get as you drive through the lap.
“The track has several great corners: the best section is the Esses, which are pretty cool and so quick - it's three or four corners at once. They're all hooked up, so if you make a mistake in one you can just forget about the rest, you've already lost so much time.
“The other highlight of the Japanese weekend is the fans. They are incredible: it doesn’t matter what time of day it is, or what the weather is doing, they are there outside the hotel or at the track waiting for you. It's great to see their passion and knowledge for our sport. They always bring us presents - most often candy, but I once got a very cute teddy koala bear!”
Sergio Perez
“The trip to Japan is always good fun and every year I try to visit Tokyo for a few days ahead of the race. It’s one of the greatest cities in the world and I love to explore it: the Japanese culture is very interesting and I really like their food! I always have a good time there.
“Once you get to Suzuka, things are much quieter: the city is small but the circuit is spectacular, it’s the real attraction. The fans are also brilliant – there are very few in the world who can match their enthusiasm. Some are very loyal: there’s one Japanese fan, who always waits for me when I am leaving the track or leaving the hotel, and I always make sure I stop for a photo. As a whole, they are very knowledgeable and passionate and are one of the highlights of the weekend.
“The circuit is a huge challenge and it’s unforgiving. The speeds are high and the best part, for me, is sector one – it’s so impressive. Suzuka is without any doubt one of the best tracks in the world. You need a car that is balanced enough for you to feel completely at ease with it. The other thing to remember is the crosswinds because it can often by very windy there. One lap you can have the perfect balance and the next it can be thrown off by a gust of wind.
“It’s a track I like and where I have enjoyed some good results – it’s definitely one of the weekends I enjoy the most. Sadly, every time we go there we are reminded of Jules’s tragic accident.”

Williams
Valtteri Bottas
“If I had to choose one track as my favourite, it would have to be Suzuka because of the high speed nature of the circuit. It’s a proper race track really built for Formula One cars. On top of that, the atmosphere is very special. The Japanese fans get so excited about the race. There’s a lot of support for me there, which I really appreciate. It’s always nice to go to Japan, it’s a favourite for a lot of people because it’s such a great track and overall a great weekend with a really good atmosphere – one I always look forward to.”
Felipe Massa
“I think Suzuka is one of the best places to race. I love the layout and the high speed sections. Sector one I think is the most incredible sector in the world. I really love Japan. I love the people and I love to go there to spend some time in Tokyo. I’m really looking forward to my last Formula One race in Japan and I can’t wait to enjoy it with the amazing Japanese fans.”
Pat Symonds
“Japan is my favourite circuit, which is a view shared by many of the drivers and engineers. It presents so many challenges to us from the fast first corner and 130R, to the very difficult continual changes of direction that are found from turn two up to turn seven. Couple this with the long high-loading through the Spoon Curves (T13-14) one can begin to understand how it challenges the cars, drivers and tyres. For Japan, Mercedes are also introducing their final power unit upgrade of the year, which will be available to all its customers, and is one which we hope will allow us to improve our performance for the remaining races of the season.”

Red Bull
Max Verstappen
“After Malaysia we go to Japan and I will spend a couple of days in Tokyo before heading to the track, which will be nice. Japan will always be a special place for me because I made my F1 debut there during Friday practice. Suzuka is a really cool track as well, especially Sector 1, it’s very fast and that’s what drivers enjoy. There is not much run off either, so you have to be very precise; it’s a proper old-school track, very challenging and demanding.
“Japan has some of the most passionate fans, they’re very sweet and the support we get from them is really nice. They give us all kinds of gifts as well, which they put a lot of effort into. I really enjoy Japan and it’s always good to go back there.”
Daniel Ricciardo
“Japan I have always loved, it’s tough for a driver, a proper racer’s circuit. The first section you have to connect all the dots because all the corners flow really nicely if you get it right. I love the food and people in Japan. I’m going to spend some days in Tokyo between the races and hopefully see a lot more of the city, try some more authentic food and experience a bit of the culture. There is Jiro’s sushi restaurant that I really want to try, it had a documentary made about it and is apparently really special so would love to eat there.”

Source : http://www.formula1.com/en/latest/he...ew-quotes.html

[GTO]

It's war time folks and the boys are back without any gap! After the mind-blowing Malaysian GP, just can't wait for the lights to go out at Suzuka.

High probability of rain on Saturday & Sunday will make the race even more interesting .

For the last two years, Hamilton has qualified 2nd in Japan, and yet won both races. He needs this victory to keep the championship alive (mentally).

[Fullrevs]

Red Bull should give Mercedes half a fight at the very least. Their chassis and aero are probably the best on the grid and should help with the first two sectors.

Makes me wonder how good Red Bull would have been had they had a Mercedes engine in the back.

Hamilton still has one penalty for engine change, I wonder if they intend to take it in Suzuka this weekend.

[frostbite911]

Meanwhile, this was the highlight of the Thursday Driver's press conference


image Source: skysports

[myavu]

Originally Posted by Fullrevs

Hamilton still has one penalty for engine change, I wonder if they intend to take it in Suzuka this weekend.

Hamilton does not have any existing penalty. He had stocked enough PU at one go back in SPA.

[jfxavier]

DRIVERS PRESS CONFERENCE –
Jolyon PALMER (Renault), Carlos SAINZ (Toro Rosso), Pascal WEHRLEIN (Manor), Kimi RAIKKONEN (Ferrari), Fernando ALONSO (McLaren), Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

http://www.fia.com/news/f1-passion-p...-and-instagram

Fernando, there’s been a lot of talk about your starts this year and the fact that in the last five GPs you’ve made up 29 places on the opening lap! Making up places is something you’ve consistently done – in circumstances you’ve had to do it of course – but can you explain a bit about your starts; is it experience, instinct or is it just pure risk taking?

Fernando ALONSO: I think it’s a little bit of everything probably. A little bit of luck as well. Sometimes you try to recover places and you try to choose a line into turn one – left or right – and you never know what if going to happen in front of you. It’s a little bit of luck also that you need. Over probably 16 years of Formula One, I recover many, many places so it cannot be only luck every single year. Yeah, probably doing a lot of Playstation and starting last – it’s good practice!

Play Station

[frostbite911]

Here are the Provisional classifications for FP1 and FP2





Image source: formula1.com

[Fullrevs]

Practise 2 Results:
1.N. Rosberg1:32:250
2. L. Hamilton1:32:322
3. K. Raikkonen1:32:573
4. M. Verstappen1:33:061
5. S. Vettel1:33:103
6. S. Perez1:33:570
7. N. Hulkenberg1:33:873
8. F. Alonso1:33:985
9. V. Bottas1:34:028
10. C. Sainz Jr.1:34:086
11. F. Massa1:34:127
12. D. Ricciardo1:34:150
13. R. Grosjean1:34:241
14. D. Kvyat1:34:305
15. K. Magnussen1:34:339
16. J. Button1:34:398
17. E. Gutiérrez1:34:643
18. J. Palmer1:34:760
19. F. Nasr1:34:824
20. P. Wehrlein1:35:292
21. E. Ocon1:35:400
22. M. Ericsson 1:36:640

Encouraging time for Kimi Raikkonen but I will put it down to an extremely low fuel run on option tyres.

Here's hoping for rain on Sunday!

[jfxavier]

TEAM REPRESENTATIVES PRESS CONFERENCE – Ayao KOMATSU (Haas), Bob BELL (Renault), Luigi FRABONI (Ferrari), Paddy LOWE (Mercedes), Yusuke HASEGAWA (Honda), Pat SYMONDS (Williams)


http://www.fia.com/news/f1-can-brexit-hurt-f1-uk

Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines) Last Sunday a driver hinted that his car had been technically sabotaged. Is it possible in this day and age – with all the telemetry, all the data, with the long life engines and components – for a team to sabotage a driver? A question to all of you but Paddy if you don’t mind starting, I think you know why.

PL: Yeah, I can’t agree with you that the driver hinted there was sabotage. Lewis has been very clear, certainly with us, that that’s completely out of the question. I think anybody with an ounce of intelligence analysing the situation would realize that the prospect of us designing a system that would cause a big end to fail at that precise point in the race… if we were that good we would win everything and control everything at every point. We’ve had other failures in the year that are very unfortunate and if we were good enough to arrange such sabotage we wouldn’t have any failures. It’s a very tough business Formula One. The engineering is operating right at the boundary of performance and things do go wrong. The complexity is incredible and trying to engineer something to happen on purpose on a car… it’s similar to when people say to us ‘you favour one driver over another’ and the idea that we might give better equipment to one driver or another. If we’ve invented something that makes our car quicker of course we want it on both cars, because we want to win the race. We never hold back or would ever even contemplate it, even if we could engineer it, which we couldn’t. Anyone intelligent could work that out.

Q: (Ken Kawakita – Weekly Playboy) It was last year here that Fernando Alonso shouted ‘GP2 engine, GP2 engine’ and this year Honda made very big progress and is fighting midfield or fighting for points at every race. How do the other power unit suppliers see the progress Honda have made since last year? Can I have some words from Ferrari, Renault and Mercedes if possible, and having heard that, can I have one comment from Hasegawa-san?

LF: Clearly, in the races compared to last year Honda has done a big improvement, it was a good job done for them which they will continue pushing. On my side, we are doing continuing improvement and I hope that next year we will do an extra step and we will come back to the picture from the last years.

BB: I think it’s great for Formula One if all of the power units end up being reasonably close, the so-called convergence band. I think that’s good and healthy for the sport and well done to Honda for making such progress so quickly.

PL: I think it’s great to see. Honda had a huge challenge to come into the sport having not been in it for a few years and to come fresh in with a totally new formula in 2015. It was always going to be a huge challenge so it’s great to see Honda back playing for points and I’m sure we will see more of them in the future.

YH: Thank you very much for the very kind social comment here in Japan. I’m really really embarrassed. I’m happy to show some progress but it’s very clear that we are still behind but I really want Fernando to correct his comment this weekend. Still we need to push more, much harder.

[shibujp]

Japanese Grand Prix broadcast in India is on Star Sports 2 this weekend.

[arunphilip]

Qualifying: P1: Rosberg, P2: Hamilton, P3: Räikkönen

If tomorrow's race is half as good as today's qualifying, its going to be a good race!

Note - Vettel penalised 3 grid places for causing a collision at previous round.
Wehrlein penalised 5 grid places for unscheduled gearbox change.

Image credit: formula1.com

A stunning qualifying session threw up many interesting moments:

• Rosberg holds off Hamilton to clinch pole
• Ferraris outqualify Red Bull, and Kimi beats Vettel again.
• Vettel will start P7 due to his 3-place penalty taken at Sepang. That means Kimi starts alongside Verstappen.
• Haas qualify in the top 10, along with Force India. Perez and Grosjean set the same time, but Perez qualifies ahead by virtue of having set it earlier in the session.
• Williams have gone backwards, failing to make it into the top 10.
• Jolyon Palmer beats his teammate and both McLarens in Q1, although he was later eclipsed by Alonso in Q2.
• Pascal Wehrlein takes a 5-place grid penalty due to a gearbox change. No change to starting position as he qualified 22nd.
• Button eliminated in Q1, and Alonso narrowly makes it into Q2. Not good news for the home track of their engine supplier.
• FOM trialled a very weird interview - interviewing the pole-sitter Rosberg via radio on his in-lap. A sign of changes from the new owners? Radio interviews like this are common in NASCAR.

[Hatari]

Bit of a shocker.. Haas into Q3 and McLarens way back.
Missing half a second somewhere i reckon. Hope they get to the bottom of it.

[Monolithic]

Originally Posted by arunphilip

[*]Vettel will start P7 due to his 3-place penalty taken at Sepang. That means Kimi starts alongside Verstappen.

It will be an entertaining race if Verstappen does not decide to push Kimi off the track and race properly.

[shibujp]

Rosberg again has the mental upper hand going into the race..and to do it with 0.013 seconds. He's pulled a Hamilton on Hamilton. To be frank I liked his pass on Raikkonen last weekend too. Though he could not pull it off cleanly he was opportunistic and showed willingness to grab half a chance. Hope to see more of that today.

Ferrari's pace looked promising. I hope they pull out of this wretched spiral of driver error, strategy bloopers and so on to get a podium this race.

Hamilton has gone and put himself in more pressure by getting mixed up in unnecessary issues this close in the game. Rosberg must be gleeful at Hamilton's outbursts, decision to walk out of press conferences etc.

Originally Posted by Monolithic

It will be an entertaining race if Verstappen does not decide to push Kimi off the track and race properly.

The stewards have decided to avoid such incidents by positioning the Ferrari duo a bit apart from the Red Bull of Verstappen.


Drive on,
Shibu.