Formula One returns to the scene of tragedy as they arrive at Suzuka for the Japanese Grand Prix. Jules Bianchi’s fatal accident last season is fresh in our memories, as it was at this circuit where he collided with a safety vehicle and succumb to his injuries nine months later.
The circuit is relatively fast, with drivers spending roughly 60% of the lap with the pedal to the medal. Suzuka is particularly hard on the tyres, specifically in the first sector of the S curves. As a result of last year’s horrific accident, there have been a number of safety changes to the circuit in an attempt to prevent this from happening in the future. First, we have the virtual safety car which was implemented by the FIA. The circuit has also installed a crane in turn 7 that will be used to recover stricken vehicles instead of the lift truck that we saw last year. Also, a new track drainage system has been installed on many of the corners to prevent the puddles of standing water that played a major factor in the accident.
This weekend got off to a poor start, with rain hindering the sessions on Friday. We saw Red Bull on top of the wet sessions, but the weather improved on Saturday and Mercedes returned to the top of the time sheets. Nico Rosberg will be starting from pole, alongside teammate Lewis Hamilton. As long as the weather remains dry, like the weather services are predicting, then it will most likely be Mercedes across the line. However, Hamilton still has one new engine remaining for the season, but Rosberg is on his final engine. The team will have to dial down the performance of Rosberg’s engine to make it cover more distance. Having to replace the engine again before the season is over will result in a penalty, so the team would like to avoid this at all costs. Hamilton will have the advantage for the rest of the season because of this and should be able to overtake his teammate at some point during the race.
Valtteri Bottas did very well in all of the sessions that he completed this weekend. He will be starting from the second row of the grid, alongside Sebastian Vettel. Vettel also did extremely well in all of the sessions, including those on Friday, despite the heavy rain. Any wet conditions will give Vettel the advantage, as Bottas didn’t do nearly as well in the wet. Even if the weather is accurate and there is no rain, Vettel will still have the advantage of being the Mercedes team’s closest rival all season. The Ferrari consistently out-performs the Williams car, so it should be fairly simple for Vettel to take the bottom step of the podium.
Red Bull’s performance early in the weekend cannot go forgotten. One of the Red Bull cars will get the final position in the top five. Since Daniil Kvyat will start from the pit lane after replacing his damaged chassis from a massive accident in qualifying, Daniel Ricciardo is the only Red Bull capable of advancing that far through the field in Japan. He will be starting from seventh on the grid, but his time in free practice three and during the second wet practice session on Friday proves that he has what it takes in Japan.
I’d like to wish all of the drivers an exciting and safe race.
