With the season’s end rapidly approaching, the teams met at Suzuka for the 2017 FORMULA 1 JAPANESE GRAND PRIX. Coming from a nightmare weekend in Malaysia, Ferrari was looking to revive their World Drivers’ Championship hopes, while Mercedes was looking to extend their title lead.
Friday morning was chaotic, as teams pushed to get as much of their practice programme completed before the forecasted rain arrived in the afternoon. Lewis Hamilton took the early lead in free practice one. Carlos Sainz lost control of his car and slammed into the barriers at turn 11. The session was red flagged for a short while, while the wounded Toro Rosso car was removed from the track. When the session resumed, Sebastian Vettel set the new time to beat, remaining on the top for the rest of the session.
The start of the second free practice session in the afternoon was delayed 45 minutes due to the heavy rain. Kimi Räikkönen was the first of the drivers to venture out onto the track for his out lap. He returned to the garage directly after. Both Force India drivers were the first drivers to try and set a fast lap in the wet conditions. Hamilton set the fastest lap, with Felipe Massa and Lance Stroll having been the only other drivers to attempt a lap time.
With the rain now out of the way, it was time for the teams to do some serious practice work to make up for the time lost on Friday. The Mercedes duo were set the early pace in the session, with Valtteri Bottas nearly beating Michael Schumacher’s lap record. Hamilton set a time that was only 0.014 seconds behind the Finn. Bottas got it wrong on the exit of the Spoon Curve, running wide into the barrier. The red flag came out, as Bottas drove back to the garage, where he remained for the rest of the session. Räikkönen crashed just moments after the session was resumed, sliding into barriers at turn nine.
Hamilton set the pace in Q1, with Räikkönen and Verstappen close behind. The session ended with a crash from Romain Grosjean, who was attempting to secure himself a position in Q2. The Frenchman suffered from oversteer in the S Curved and spun off into the barriers at the Dunlop Curve. Hamilton was once again the driver to beat in a relatively uneventful Q2, with Vettel able to close the gap. Q3 was also pretty routine, with Hamilton setting the fastest lap, beating Bottas and Vettel. Grid penalties for Carlos Sainz, Fernando Alosno, Jolyon Palmer, Valtteri Bottas and Kimi Räikkönen shuffled up the starting grid.
Sunday started out poorly for Ferrari, with Vettel suffering a spark plug issue while sitting on the grid before the formation lap. The team believed that they had rectified the issue before the race, but Vettel lasted only a few laps before retiring into the pits, severely damaging their championship hopes. Meanwhile, Hamilton maintained his lead of the race. Shortly into the race the safety car was deployed for a stranded Sainz. The virtual safety car was deployed shortly after for a crash involving Marcus Ericsson.
During the pit window, Hamilton and the chasing Verstappen were the first of the leaders to pit for fresh tyres. Ricciardo pitted shortly after, giving the lead to Bottas. Bottas stayed out, swapped positions with the faster Hamilton and slowed down Verstappen before pulling into the pits for tyres. Lance Stroll brought out the virtual safety car with only a few laps remaining in the race for a tyre puncture which nearly led to a big crash with the Red Bull car. Despite some late race challenges from Verstappen, Hamilton was able to take the race victory, with Verstappen and Ricciardo finishing on the podium.
With another victory in 2017, Hamilton now has the chance to win the World Drivers’ Championship title at the next round in the United States, putting a lot of pressure on Vettel and Ferrari. The United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas will take place on the weekend of October 22.
