Japanese Grand Prix: Suzuka Wrap Up
This past Japanese Grand Prix, for those of us who got up early enough, ended up being a fantastic race, despite the lack of action in Saturday qualifying. The torrential downpours left the track looking like Venice, with a notable lack of F1 cars. We can’t blame the FIA for the weather god’s wrath, but if Nico Rosberg had had his own way, Suzuka fans would have a good reason to endure the rain.
When he was asked what could be done for the future when rain hinders operations, “I have a good idea,” said the German Mercedes driver. “Everybody one lap in the SLS [the safety car], qualifying. Standing start, one lap each, and that is it.”
The weather on race day looked far more promising, most notably in the sunshine but also when Virgin’s Lucas di Grassi set the benchmark for F1 calamities when he had a massive, and bizarre, crash at 130R on his way to the dummy grid, retiring him from the race.
Majority of the race action then proceeded in the opening minutes, Vitaly Petrov of Renault clipped Nico Hulkenberg’s Williams and crashed into the barriers on the pit straight. Then, Ferrari’s Felipe Massa lost control of his car when he moved to the right and into the grass, ramping the curb and slamming into Force India’s Tonio Liuzzi. The aftermath carnage was enough to confirm immediately that both would be retired from the race.
“I had to go on to the grass and then I couldn’t turn and I went straight,” said Massa in an interview, “ When I touched the kerb which sent me completely to the left where there was some cars coming and I hit Liuzzi. It was a shame.”
We know from experience that when the Red Bulls are good, they’re in a league of their own. Vettel and Webber managed to keep their one-two formation after the Massa invoked safety car left the track. They easily managed to pull away from Ferrari’s P3 Alonso, at around a second per lap. Button of McLaren managed to mess up their happy situation when his alternative tyre strategy put him in P1 from laps 25 to 38, as he ran his hard tyres in with a late change to the soft compound.
Michael Schumacher of Mercedes looked set to finish, yet again behind younger teammate Nico Rosberg who had pitted under the safety car at the start, until Rosberg lost a wheel and crashed at the S curves with five laps to go.
For Lewis Hamilton fans, last year’s Japanese Grand Prix was wonderful in that he actually finished the race and made his parade lap 1950s Messerschmitt KR175 bubble-car look pretty damn cool. Unfortunately, as has been the fashion, all his luck seemed to drain to Webber, as on lap 44 he reported the loss of third gear. Hamilton still managed hang on to P5, whilst his team mate tried fruitlessly to catch Alonso.
At the end of the 53 laps, Vettel finally had his 1st place after a flawless race on his part, and winning the Japanese Grand Prix for the second year in a row.
Desiree Schirlinger
Photo Credit: Mark Thompson/Getty Images
Final Race Results:
Pos Driver Team Time 1. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1h30:27.323 2. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 0.905 3. Alonso Ferrari + 2.721 4. Button McLaren-Mercedes + 13.522 5. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes + 39.595 6. Schumacher Mercedes + 59.933 7. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari + 1:04:038 8. Heidfeld Sauber-Ferrari + 1:09.648 9. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth + 1:10.846 10. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1:12.806 11. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap 12. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth + 1 lap 13. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth + 2 laps 14. Glock Virgin-Cosworth + 2 laps 15. Senna HRT-Cosworth + 2 laps 16. Yamamoto HRT-Cosworth + 3 laps 17. Rosberg Mercedes + 5 laps
World Championship standings, round 16: Drivers: Constructors: 1. Webber 220 1. Red Bull-Renault 426 2. Alonso 206 2. McLaren-Mercedes 381 3. Vettel 206 3. Ferrari 334 4. Hamilton 192 4. Mercedes 176 5. Button 189 5. Renault 133 6. Massa 128 6. Force India-Mercedes 60 7. Rosberg 122 7. Williams-Cosworth 58 8. Kubica 114 8. Sauber-Ferrari 37 9. Schumacher 54 9. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 11 10. Sutil 47 11. Barrichello 41 12. Kobayashi 27 13. Petrov 19 14. Hulkenberg 17 15. Liuzzi 13 16. Buemi 8 17. De la Rosa 6 18. Heidfeld 4 19. Alguersuari 3