Suzuka International Racing Course
Lap data
Lap length 5.807km (3.608 miles)
Race laps 53
Race distance 307.471km (191.054 miles)
Pole position Left-hand side of the track
Lap record* 1’31.540 (Kimi Raikkonen, 2005)
Fastest lap 1’28.954 (Michael Schumacher, 2006, qualifying two)
Maximum speed 328kph (203.81 mph)
DRS zone/s (race) Pit straight
Distance from grid to turn one 405m
Full throttle 66%
Longest flat-out section 994m
Downforce level High
Gear changes per lap 48
Fuel use per lap 1.89kg
Time penalty per lap of fuel 0.074s
UK Times
Friday 5th October 2018
Japanese Grand Prix Free Practice 1: 10:00-11:30 (UK time: 2:00-3:30)
Japanese Grand Prix Free Practice 2: 14:00-15:30 (UK time: 6:00-7:30)
Saturday 6th October 2018
Japanese Grand Prix Free Practice 3: 12:00-13:00 (UK time: 4:00-5:00)
Japanese Grand Prix Qualifying: 15:00 (UK time: 7:00)
Sunday 7th October 2018
Japanese Grand Prix: 14:10 (UK time: 6:10)
Previous Winners
2017 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Mercedes Suzuka
2016 Germany Nico Rosberg Mercedes
2015 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Mercedes
2014 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Mercedes
2013 Germany Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault
2012 Germany Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault
2011 United Kingdom Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes
2010 Germany Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault
2009 Germany Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault
2008 Spain Fernando Alonso Renault Fuji
2007 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes Fuji
2006 Spain Fernando Alonso Renault Suzuka
2005 Finland Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes
2004 Germany Michael Schumacher Ferrari
2003 Brazil Rubens Barrichello Ferrari
2002 Germany Michael Schumacher Ferrari
2001 Germany Michael Schumacher Ferrari
2000 Germany Michael Schumacher Ferrari
Videos
Alonso 2017 on board
1995 various onboard (Ferrari V12 @7.35 hhnnnngggg!)
Facts from the last race
Lewis Hamilton has celebrated few wins as un-enthusiastically as his 70th.
This wasn’t the first time he’s won a race after being waved through by a team mate – Nico Rosberg made way for him in Monaco two years ago – but the switch clearly didn’t please him.
Bottas went into the race still in championship contention and he retains a slim mathematical chance of winning the title, as does Kimi Raikkonen. Realistically, however, it’s between Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel.
To win the title Vettel needs to recover a deficit of 50 points – equal to exactly two wins – in five races. The only driver who’s overcome a gap of this size (in relative terms) in that many races or more was James Hunt when he won the 1976 world championship, and he was aided by Niki Lauda’s absence due to injury.
Although it bears pointing out that in the first year of the current points system Vettel went into the final two races a full win behind Fernando Alonso, yet snatched the title at the final race. But Hamilton has only dropped seven points from a possible 150 in the last six events.
Mercedes sustained their domination of the Russian Grand Prix. No other manufacturer has won this race since it was added to the F1 calendar at the beginning of the V6 turbo hybrid era in 2014.
Valtteri Bottas took the race’s fastest lap as a consolation prize. It was his eighth, putting him level with James Hunt, Gilles Villeneuve, Ralf Schumacher and Jenson Button. He also took pole position, his sixth, tying with Phil Hill, Emerson Fittipaldi, Jean-Pierre Jabouille, Alan Jones, Carlos Reutemann and Ralf Schumacher. On top of that he knocked 1.8 seconds off the Sochi track record.
However it wasn’t Hamilton or Bottas who led the most laps of the race. That honour went to Max Verstappen, who eventually finished fifth after starting 19th.
His 14-place climb is the biggest improvement any driver has made on their starting position so far this year. While he obviously had a significant car advantage to do it with, the fact he made up all the places he kept within just eight laps is impressive.
Verstappen is one of five drivers to make up more than 10 places in a race this year, along with Hamilton (Germany), Bottas (Belgium), Daniel Ricciardo (Russia) and Fernando Alonso (Austria). But Verstappen is the only driver to have done it twice: he made up 11 places in the Monaco Grand Prix.
Red Bull’s grid penalties meant they had no reason to run in Q2, so they didn’t. The same went for Pierre Gasly and Renault realised they were unlikely to progress. With those five cars sitting out the session there was no competition for a place in the final 10.
Sauber took advantage of the situation to get both their cars into Q3 for the first time since the 2015 Chinese Grand Prix. This also meant all six Ferrari-powered cars made it to the final round.
Drivers’ Chosen Tyres
Championship Standings
