As Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes hone in on a sixth world driver and team title double, Formula One heads to Suzuka for the 2019 Japanese Grand Prix.
Ferrari however will be keen to hit back after their Russian Grand Prix imploded through infighting whilst Red Bull and Toro Rosso look to impress in front of Honda’s home fans, so welcome to our Japanese GP preview.
Track Guide
Circuit: Suzuka International Circuit
Laps: 53
Race Distance: 305.573km
Tyre Compounds: C1, C2 & C3
Schedule
| Date | Session | Time (BST) |
| Friday 11 October | FP1 | 2:00am |
| Friday 11 October | FP2 | 6:00am |
| Saturday 12 October | FP3 | Cancelled |
| Sunday 13 October | Qualifying | 2:00am |
| Sunday 13 October | Race | 6:10am |
* UPDATE – FP3 has been cancelled due to Typhoon Hagibis with Qualifying moved to Sunday morning.
Three Key Pointers
- The technical demands of this twisty track should suit Mercedes and Red Bull, although Ferrari will need to utilise their straight-line speed wherever possible to reduce their deficit in the slow corners.
- Should Qualifying be wet, this will be Alexander’s Albon chance to show Red Bull what he can do in wet conditions, after impressing for Toro Rosso at German GP in tough conditions.
- Producing clean laps could be key in both the front and midfield battles in deciding who qualifies in which position, although Typhoon Hagibis could be a factor if we get a wet qualifying.
Title Permutations
Driver
Hamilton can’t win his sixth driver title this weekend but he can eliminate some of his top five rivals, so here is what each of Valtteri Bottas, Charles Leclerc, Max Verstappen and Sebastian Vettel need to keep their title hopes alive.
*Hamilton would take the title on count back if any of his title rivals finished the season tied on points with him.
| Driver | Task |
| Bottas | Stays in title race until at least Mexico irrespective of result. |
| Leclerc | Outscore Hamilton by four points. |
| Verstappen | Outscore Hamilton by seven points. |
| Vettel | Outscore Hamilton by 25 points. |
Constructor
Mercedes simply need to outscore Ferrari by 14 points to seal their sixth consecutive title as a constructor, because they will become team champions on virtue of more race wins if both teams were to finish the season tied on points.
If missed the opening 16 rounds of this season, get up to date with our race reviews below along with our half-term report.
- Australia
- Bahrain
- China
- Azerbaijan
- Spain
- Monaco
- Canada
- France
- Austria
- Great Britain
- Germany
- Hungary
- Half-Term Report
- Belgium
- Italy
- Singapore
- Russia