Having had some fun and games last weekend, the Weather Gods are clearly up for more.
On Friday they hit Suzuka with plenty of wet stuff before taking the day off yesterday. Today however, they are back on duty and though it has merely been overcast so far we are expecting conditions to change over the next couple of hours.
Of course, the WGs are aware that, unlike last week, this isn't a night race that can be delayed for an hour or so, no, because the early onset of dusk here would mean a shortened race if there are any significant delays or stoppages.
Much is being made of the fact that Max can win his second title today, but in all reality that is unlikely to happen - Drive to Survive's scriptwriters no doubt having already decided on COTA as the best backdrop for the inevitable celebrations... or maybe they already have a plan to stall it until Las Vegas.
Having said after the summer break that he needed to win all the races in order to claim the title, fact is that Charles hasn't won any, and today is probably his best chance of reversing that particular record. However, he starts from the front row, alongside Max, which isn't going to be much fun for either of them but will be for us.
Right behind are their trusty teammates Carlos and Sergio both of whom are more than capable of throwing a spanner in the works.
And then comes the baying mob, led by the Alpines and Mercedes, both teams with their own particular points to prove.
Behind these are the McLarens and Alfa Romeos, an AlphaTauri, an Aston Martin and a Haas, all with an eye on consolidating positions won last weekend or reversing them.
Alpine, in particular will be hurting after last weekend, the French team given extra motivation by the Piastri affair and the continued baiting of the team by Zak.
Then there's Mick, who, having blotted his copybook on Friday, really needs a result today if he is to have any hope of securing a seat next season.
Following an emotional qualifying yesterday, Sebastian will be keen to leave Suzuka with a decent result, while ironically, for the man who essentially unseated him at Red Bull in 2014, this could be his last Suzuka outing also.
The fastest strategy on paper is a two-stopper using the soft and medium tyres: probably with the medium used once during the middle stint. Soft followed by two medium stints is another viable two-stopper, for those with two mediums left.
A one-stopper could be possible as well, depending on degradation rates. This could be soft to hard, or medium to hard - which is slightly slower on paper but requires less management. What's clear is that all three compounds have a valid role to play and a wide variety of strategies are theoretically possible.
That's in the dry... however, an hour before the start the WGs make an appearance.
Ahead of the pitlane opening, Race Control helpfully announces that awnings are allowed.
First out is Leclerc who is sporting Inters, and as more drivers head out the green-banded rubber appears to be the tyre of choice. It is very wet, and consequently rooster tails abound.
Air temperature is 18 degrees C, while the track temperature is 22 degrees. Unusually these conditions suited Mercedes on Friday, so could the German team spring a surprise this afternoon. That said, the Silver Arrows used up a lot of its Inters on Friday, consequently both drivers only have two fresh sets, while the Bulls and Ferraris have four.
Hot damn, you've got to love those Weather Gods.
The nature of this track means that in such conditions little rivers form at certain parts of the track, and it is on one of these that Schumacher was caught out on Friday.
Having made changes to his car overnight, Gasly, who qualified 17th, is starting from the pitlane.
Ahead of the National Anthem it stops raining, however Race Control advises that there is a 100% chance of rain during the race.
As the '10 minute' warning is given the rain returns, as Bottas is told the intensity will increase. Indeed, Leclerc is advised that it will stay like this for half-an-hour and then increase.
Both McLaren drivers are told it is wetter than before but that Inters "should be OK".
As they head off on the formation lap, all are on Inters.
As Verstappen and Leclerc pull away from the formation lap, the rest of the grid disappears in the spray.
"This will be eventful," Alonso is told, "a chance to grab some good points today."
"It's quite wet now," reports Hamilton as Leclerc gets out of shape in the Hairpin.
It is a quick formation lap for Verstappen.
The grid forms. They're away.
A brilliant start from Leclerc but heading into Turn 1 Max turns on the power and grabs the lead, going around the outside of the Ferrari. Alonso gets away well, first going one way then the other as he sought some space. Further back, Vettel has a wobble after running along the white line at the edge of the track.
Heading into Turn 1, blinded by the spray, Vettel touches Alonso's Alpine and spins. "I got his by Alonso," says the German.
Elsewhere, Latifi has to take avoiding action to avoid a spinning Zhou.
Alonso gets inside of Hamilton at the Hairpin, but the Briton retakes the position as the Alpine driver is unable to get back on the power at the exit.
Sainz is off at Turn 12, after aquaplaning, while Albon is off just ahead of Turn 13. Also, Gasly is wearing a piece of advertising hoarding on his nose, the hoarding having been dislodged by Sainz.
"Yeh, I crashed," says Sainz, "I crashed, I crashed, I crashed."
"The Inter had good grip," reports Stroll, "I just can't see ****!" The Canadian had a brilliant start, making up a whole heap of positions at the start by running alongside the pit-wall.
The Safety Car is deployed at which point Gasly pits for a new nose and full wets.
Replay shows that while Sainz went off, Albon appeared to suffer a technical failure.
The race is red-flagged, much to Gasly's frustration having switched to the wets.
However, as a tractor is used to remove Sainz' Ferrari, memories of Jules Bianchi in 2014 come to mind.
"Oh, **** what the hell was that," shouts Gasly, a close friend of Bianchi's. "My God, what the hell was that?
"I could have ******* killed myself," he adds. "What is this? What is this tractor on track?! I passed next to it. This is unacceptable. Remember what has happened. I can't believe this."
Verstappen leads Leclerc, Perez, Ocon, Hamilton, Alonso, Russell, Ricciardo, Tsunoda and Schumacher.
The German has made up 5 places, Stroll 8 and Magnussen 6.
At 14:35 Race Control says the race will resume at 14:50 and that it will be a "rolling start procedure". It also warns that there will be more than one lap behind the Safety Car. Wet tyres are mandatory.
At 14:48 Race Control announces that the re-start is suspended. Up go the awnings again.
Sainz admits that he doesn't understand why there was a tractor on track when the race was going to be red-flagged anyway.
Check out our Sunday gallery from Suzuka here.
sign in