09/10/2022
NEWS STORY
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.
Vettel is told that "heavy rain" will arrive in ten minutes and will last twenty minutes, therefore we are looking at (at least) another thirty minutes before the re-start.
As the FIA appears to shift the blame for Gasly's encounter with the tractor to the Frenchman, Race Control reveals that the "Lap 2, Turn 12 incident" involving the AlphaTauri driver will be investigated after the race.
In the meantime, a statement from the FIA reads: "In relation to the recovery of the incident on Lap 3, the Safety Car had been deployed and the race neutralised.
"Car 10 (Gasly), which had collected damage and pitted behind the Safety Car, was then driving at high speed to catch up to the field.
"As conditions were deteriorating, the Red Flag was shown before Car 10 passed the location of the incident where it had been damaged the previous lap."
Seemingly the stewards are claiming that Gasly "reached speeds of up to 250 km/h (155 mph) when completing the lap under the red flag after passing the scene of the incident".
At 15:54 the Medical Car is sent out. Though the rain appears to have eased, there are still a number of rivers running across the track.
At which point Sainz' Ferrari arrives back in the pits.
It is now 16:00, which means we have one hour for any 'racing' that there might be.
At 16:04 Race Control announces that the race will resume at 16:15. Wet weather tyres will be mandatory.
Ahead of the restart the fans are clapping.
The Safety Car heads out, followed by Verstappen and the rest.
A rolling start procedure, says Race Control.
"Track's really good," says Hamilton. However, the drivers further back are not as convinced as they are the ones encountering spray.
"I think it's raining a little bit more now," says Verstappen. Indeed, the rooster tails are back in force.
"Track conditions are not too bad in most places," says Ricciardo. "it's the visibility that is the issue."
However, Race Control announces that the Safety Car will enter the pits, after 5 laps, and a rolling start will follow.
Verstappen leads the field into Turn 1 as the race resumes. At the back Latifi and Vettel pit for Inters. The two head back down the pitlane side-by-side after the Aston Martin was released into the path of the Williams.
Leclerc is 1.1s down on Verstappen but 2.9s clear of Perez.
The Vettel/Latifi incident has been noted.
Norris and Bottas pit at the end of lap 6.
"It's extremes right now, mate," warns Hamilton.
Magnussen passes Stroll in the Degners for 11th.
Verstappen pits at the end of lap 7, as do Leclerc, Perez, Ocon, Hamilton, Russell and a whole load more.
Alonso leads Ricciardo, who heads Schumacher and Verstappen.
Vettel is up to 10th, lapping 5s quicker than race leader Alonso.
"That is the worst decision we've made," says Russell.
"P3, but we're hoping for the Safety Car, so stay on track," Schumacher is told.
Alonso and Ricciardo pits at the end of lap 8, as Verstappen passes Schumacher for the lead.
Leclerc is third, ahead of Zhou, Perez, Ocon, Hamilton, Vettel, Alonso and Latifi.
Leclerc passes Schumacher for second but is 5s down on the leader.
Norris posts a new fastest lap (48.715).
Magnussen passes Bottas for 16th, as Zhou pits and Verstappen posts a 45.148.
Perez passes Schumacher for third, the German yet to pit.
Ocon is all over Schumacher, with Hamilton right behind.
Leclerc posts a 44.489 as Hamilton goes around the outside of Schumacher in the final turn.
Vettel passes Schumacher on the approach to the Hairpin, with Alonso also sneaking through.
As Latifi and Norris make short work of the Haas driver, surely it is time to pit him.
Indeed, 8s off the pace, the German finally pits, rejoining in last position.
After 12 laps, Verstappen leads by 7s as Hamilton closes on (fourth-placed) Ocon.
Russell is all over the back of Tsunoda.
"Is anyone struggling on the Inter yet," asks Ricciardo. "That's not clear yet, no," he is told.
That said, as Leclerc falls 8.7s behind it is clear that some drivers are struggling.
"We are expecting some spots in around two minutes," Leclerc is told.
"Other starting to struggle with the fronts too," Hamilton is told.
Russell passes Tsunoda for tenth in the Esses in a brave move. "That was a nice move," says the Briton.
At the start of lap 16, Verstappen leads by 10s, as Russell passes Norris at the Chicane.
"How many positions do we lose if we box," asks Leclerc. "Five positions," he is told.
As Ocon fends off Hamilton, teammate Alonso is all over a struggling Vettel.
"I don't know how aggressive I can be to attack him," admits the Spaniard.
Out front, Verstappen leads by 13.7s, while Perez has upped his pace and is 3.7s behind Leclerc.
Zhou pits at the end of lap 18.
Brilliant racing from Ocon and Hamilton as they battle for fourth, the Frenchman placing his car with absolute perfection.
Stroll pits at the end of lap 19, as does Gasly.
As Tsunoda pits, Stroll goes quickest in S2, while Russell passes Latifi in Turn 6 for 8th.
"Are you sleeping," asks Perez of his engineer as he closes to within 1.49s of Leclerc. "you're in the groove," is the reply, "reel him in."
Alonso pits at the end of lap 22, thereby dropping from 7th to 10th, he has Norris in front and Ricciardo behind.
Stroll and Schumacher are under investigation for causing a collision.
"This is so frustrating," admits Hamilton.
Perez is almost through on the inside of Leclerc at the Hairpin, but not quite.
Alonso is already up to 8th but is 6s down on Russell ahead.
Check out our Sunday gallery from Suzuka here.
"Are we not going to box for new tyres," asks Verstappen. "No," he is told.
At the start of lap 27, Race Control confirms that 2 minutes of racing remain. That and an extra lap.
Alonso is 1.9s down on Russell.
For the third successive lap, Perez appears to nail Leclerc at the Hairpin but without success.
"I need more power," urges Hamilton.
Verstappen starts lap 28, the final lap.
Alonso passes Russell 7th, with Vettel just 1.2s ahead.
Somehow, but God knows how, Leclerc and Perez don't collide at the Hairpin.
A mistake sees Leclerc miss the second part of the chicane, allowing Perez to close in, but then Monegasque wins the drag race to the line.
As they head for the line, Vettel and Alonso are side-by-side but somehow the German holds the two-time champion off.
Verstappen wins, ahead of Leclerc, Perez, Ocon, Hamilton, Vettel, Alonso, Russell, Latifi and Norris.
Ricciardo is eleventh, ahead of Stroll, Tsunoda, Magnussen, Bottas, Zhou, Gasly and Schumacher.
No sooner have the stewards noted that Leclerc left the track and gained an advantage than they have investigated the incident and handed him a 5s time penalty, thereby dropping him to third.
Which means that Verstappen has won the title.
The somewhat anti-climactic and confusing winning of the tile - announced by Johnny Herbert - courtesy of Leclerc's penalty is somewhat reminiscent of when James Hunt won at Fuji in 1976.
Though there were some great performances out there, this was another day when the sport has not exactly covered itself in glory.
Other than the fact that blame for the 'tractor incident' is already being 'explained' as Gasly's fault, there is the decision to award full points - thereby giving Verstappen the title - after 28 laps.
This is a day when full credit goes to the drivers and, of course, those magnificent fans, but not the sport's powers-that-be.
Check out our Sunday gallery from Suzuka here.