Japanese Grand Prix 2012, Suzuka - Race 15/20

Duke

Duke

Duke

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Suzuka

One of the greatest tracks used in Formula One racing today, Japan's Suzuka circuit is a massive test of car and driver ability. Built by Honda as a test facility in 1962, the track was designed by Dutchman John Hugenholz, the Hermann Tilke of his day. A huge theme park was also constructed at the track, including the famous big wheel which dominates the Suzuka skyline.

In 1987, having hosted various sportscar and F2 races, and having lost out initially to Fuji in the race to host the Japanese Grand Prix, Honda's influence finally prevailed and the Grand Prix had a new Japanese home. And - 2007/8 aside - at Suzuka the race has stayed ever since, providing the scene for many nail-biting end-of-season deciders, including the infamous collisions involving Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna.

Suzuka includes some of the F1 calendar's most challenging corners. Among the drivers' favourites are the high-speed 130R and the famous Spoon Curve. On top of this the circuit's figure-of-eight layout makes it unique in F1 racing.


Session Times

Fri 5 Oct 2012
Practice 1 02:00 - 03:30
Practice 2 06:00 - 07:30

Sat 6 Oct 2012
Practice 3 03:00 - 04:00
Qualifying 06:00

Sun 7 Oct 2012
Race 07:00


All live on Sky Sports F1. For BBC times and info see here. FIA 2011 race edit can be found here.

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Track:

Track Diagram

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Track DRS

Detection zone 50m before Turn 16 and the activation zone is at the Control Line after Turn 18.


Circuit information

Number of Laps: 53
Circuit Length: 5.807 km
Race Distance: 307.471 km
Lap Record: 1:31.540 - K. Raikkonen (2005)



Current Standings

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Technical Changes

http://www.formula1.com/news/technical/



Photos from the event

Thursday - http://www.formula1.com/gallery/race/2012/878/general/thursday.html | http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2012/10/04/2012-japanese-grand-prix-thursday-pictures/

Friday - http://www.formula1.com/gallery/race/2012/878/general/friday.html | http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2012/10/05/2012-japanese-grand-prix-practice-pictures/

Saturday - http://www.formula1.com/gallery/race/2012/878/general/saturday.html | http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2012/10/06/2012-japanese-grand-prix-qualifying-pictures/

Sunday -


FIA Press Conference

Thursday - http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2012/10/13864.html

Friday - http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2012/10/13874.html

Saturday - http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2012/10/13882.html

Sunday -


Practice 1
Code: 
[b]Pos  Driver                Team                  Time               Laps[/b]
 1.  Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes      1m34.507s            20
 2.  Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes      1m34.740s  + 0.233   26
 3.  Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault      1m34.856s  + 0.349   24
 4.  Nico Rosberg          Mercedes              1m35.059s  + 0.552   18
 5.  Michael Schumacher    Mercedes              1m35.112s  + 0.615   20
 6.  Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari        1m35.199s  + 0.692   27
 7.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari               1m35.283s  + 0.776   24
 8.  Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes  1m35.299s  + 0.792   18
 9.  Nico Hulkenberg       Force India-Mercedes  1m35.474s  + 0.967   22
10.  Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Renault      1m35.478s  + 0.971   24
11.  Fernando Alonso       Ferrari               1m35.484s  + 0.977   26
12.  Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari        1m35.584s  + 1.077   24
13.  Kimi Raikkonen        Lotus-Renault         1m35.691s  + 1.184   22
14.  Romain Grosjean       Lotus-Renault         1m35.724s  + 1.217   21
15.  Daniel Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m36.123s  + 1.616   19
16.  Jean-Eric Vergne      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m36.222s  + 1.715   25
17.  Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault      1m36.366s  + 1.859   23
18.  Valterri Bottas       Williams-Renault      1m36.389s  + 1.882   24
19.  Timo Glock            Marussia-Cosworth     1m37.716s  + 3.209   17 
20.  Vitaly Petrov         Caterham-Renault      1m38.295s  + 3.788   23
21.  Charles Pic           Marussia-Cosworth     1m38.616s  + 4.109   25
22.  Narain Karthikeyan    HRT-Cosworth          1m39.043s  + 4.536   25
23.  Giedo van der Garde   Caterham-Renault      1m39.374s  + 4.867   22
24.  Pedro de la Rosa      HRT-Cosworth          1m39.688s  + 5.181   19


Practice 2
Code: 
[b]Pos  Driver                Team                  Time               Laps[/b]
 1.  Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault      1m32.493             34
 2.  Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes      1m32.707s  + 0.214   32
 3.  Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault      1m32.836s  + 0.343   37
 4.  Nico Hulkenberg       Force India-Mercedes  1m32.987s  + 0.494   30
 5.  Fernando Alonso       Ferrari               1m33.093s  + 0.600   28
 6.  Romain Grosjean       Lotus-Renault         1m33.107s  + 0.614   35
 7.  Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes      1m33.349s  + 0.856   22
 8.  Bruno Senna           Williams-Renault      1m33.499s  + 1.006   35
 9.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari               1m33.614s  + 1.121   32
10.  Michael Schumacher    Mercedes              1m33.750s  + 1.257   13
11.  Nico Rosberg          Mercedes              1m33.866s  + 1.373   19
12.  Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari        1m33.903s  + 1.410   36
13.  Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari        1m33.9$3s  + 1.490   33
14.  Kimi Raikkonen        Lotus-Renault         1m34.291s  + 1.798   12
15.  Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Renault      1m34.300s  + 1.807   33
16.  Daniel Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m34.863s  + 2.370   32
17.  Jean-Eric Vergne      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m35.080s  + 2.587   34
18.  Heikki Kovalainen     Caterham-Renault      1m35.711s  + 3.218   41
19.  Vitaly Petrov         Caterham-Renault      1m35.870s  + 3.377   37
20.  Timo Glock            Marussia-Cosworth     1m36.194s  + 3.701   32
21.  Charles Pic           Marussia-Cosworth     1m36.636s  + 4.143   28
22.  Pedro de la Rosa      HRT-Cosworth          1m37.342s  + 4.849   30
23.  Narain Karthikeyan    HRT-Cosworth          1m37.701s  + 5.208   35
24.  Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes  No time               2


Practice 3
Code: 
[b]Pos  Driver                Team                  Time               Laps[/b]
 1.  Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault      1m32.136             16
 2.  Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault      1m32.371s  + 0.235   19
 3.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari               1m32.824s  + 0.688   12
 4.  Michael Schumacher    Mercedes              1m32.918s  + 0.782   22
 5.  Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari        1m32.920s  + 0.784   18
 6.  Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari        1m32.924s  + 0.788   14
 7.  Romain Grosjean       Lotus-Renault         1m33.008s  + 0.872   20
 8.  Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes      1m33.025s  + 0.889   15
 9.  Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes  1m33.094s  + 0.958   16
10.  Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Renault      1m33.160s  + 1.024   15
11.  Fernando Alonso       Ferrari               1m33.184s  + 1.048   13
12.  Kimi Raikkonen        Lotus-Renault         1m33.224s  + 1.088   14
13.  Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes      1m33.56$s  + 1.433   13
14.  Jean-Eric Vergne      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m33.722s  + 1.586   17
15.  Nico Rosberg          Mercedes              1m33.899s  + 1.763   22
16.  Bruno Senna           Williams-Renault      1m33.984s  + 1.848   18
17.  Daniel Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m34.023s  + 1.887   18
18.  Nico Hulkenberg       Force India-Mercedes  1m34.369s  + 2.233   11
19.  Heikki Kovalainen     Caterham-Renault      1m35.568s  + 3.432   18
20.  Vitaly Petrov         Caterham-Renault      1m36.355s  + 4.219   17
21.  Timo Glock            Marussia-Cosworth     1m36.389s  + 4.253   11
22.  Charles Pic           Marussia-Cosworth     1m36.517s  + 4.381   17
23.  Narain Karthikeyan    HRT-Cosworth          1m36.649s  + 4.513   11
24.  Pedro de la Rosa      HRT-Cosworth          1m36.875s  + 4.739   15


Qualifying
Code: 
[b]Pos  Driver                Team                 Time            Gap   [/b]
 1.  Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault     1m30.839s
 2.  Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault     1m31.090s  + 0.251
 3.  Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes     1m31.294s  + 0.451
 4.  Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari       1m31.700s  + 0.861
 5.  Romain Grosjean       Lotus-Renault        1m31.989s  + 1.059
 6.  Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari       1m32.022s  + 1.183
 7.  Fernando Alonso       Ferrari              1m32.114s  + 1.275
 8.  Kimi Raikkonen        Lotus-Renault        1m32.208s  + 1.369
 9.  Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes     1m32.327s  + 1.488
10.  Nico Hulkenberg       Force India-Mercedes no time
Q2 cut-off time: 1m32.272s                                   Gap **
11.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari              1m32.293s  + 0.792
12.  Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes 1m32.327s  + 0.826
13.  Michael Schumacher    Mercedes             1m32.469s  + 0.968
14.  Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Renault     1m32.512s  + 1.011
15.  Nico Rosberg          Mercedes             1m32.625s  + 1.124
16.  Daniel Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1m32.954s  + 1.453
17.  Jean-Eric Vergne      Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1m33.368s  + 1.867
Q1 cut-off time: 1m33.370s                                    Gap *
18.  Bruno Senna           Williams-Renault     1m33.405s  + 1.376
19.  Heikki Kovalainen     Caterham-Renault     1m34.657s  + 2.628
20.  Timo Glock            Marussia-Cosworth    1m35.213s  + 3.184
21.  Pedro de la Rosa      HRT-Cosworth         1m35.385s  + 3.356
22.  Charles Pic           Marussia-Cosworth    1m35.429s  + 3.400
23.  Vitaly Petrov         Caterham-Renault     1m35.432s  + 3.403
24.  Narain Karthikeyan    HRT-Cosworth         1m36.734s  + 4.705


Grid after penalties - http://www1.skysports.com/formula1/grandprix/japan/results#tab_grid


Race
Code: 
[b]Pos  Driver        Team                       Time[/b]
 1.  Vettel        Red Bull-Renault           1h28:56.242
 2.  Massa         Ferrari                    +    20.639
 3.  Kobayashi     Sauber-Ferrari             +    24.538
 4.  Button        McLaren-Mercedes           +    25.098
 5.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes           +    46.490
 6.  Raikkonen     Lotus-Renault              +    50.424
 7.  Hulkenberg    Force India-Mercedes       +    51.159
 8.  Maldonado     Williams-Renault           +    52.364
 9.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault           +    54.675
10.  Ricciardo     Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +  1:06.919
11.  Schumacher    Mercedes                   +  1:07.769
12.  Di Resta      Force India-Mercedes       +  1:23.400
13.  Vergne        Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +  1:28.600
14.  Senna         Williams-Renault           +  1:28.700
15.  Grosjean      Lotus-Renault              +     1 lap
16.  Kovalainen    Caterham-Renault           +     1 lap
17.  Glock         Marussia-Cosworth          +     1 lap
18.  Petrov        Caterham-Renault           +     1 lap
19.  De la Rosa    HRT-Cosworth               +     1 lap
 
Last edited:
Skeeter said:
How are the drivers selected for those? Always seems a bit of a random pick.
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Assume its the FIA, I don't think they are that random, pretty sure they pick drivers from the country visited or the ones that have been in the spot light recently.
 
Skeeter said:
Kamui, Schumacher, Hamilton, Perez and.... hmm, Massa?
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That'll be good :) They don't often come up with anything that interesting now though do they, all prepared for them by the PR depts. The only time we really hear what they think is the top 3 after the race in that room :D
 
Anyone else noticed the numbers aren't as prominent as they used to be years back? I guess they don't need them so much now.
 
Damn, thought it was some dig suggesting Ferrari were always last, back in their bad days :p
 
Bit meaningless really though as those that don't qualify well in a reasonable car will be top. I think JB topped it in 2010 didn't he? Which was mainly due to overtaking the whole field in Canada if I remember correctly.
 
arknor said:
lewis has manned up and stepped about from the nipple of mclaren i have no doubt we will see a very different hamilton for the rest of this seasons races.

the negative effect mclaren have had on him must have cost him atleast 3 tenths
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Please don't bring that drivel in here.
 
ThestigGT999 said:
Hamilton or Webber or Jenson win with Alonso in top three and Vettel out side top 5

I will be ok this out come
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Assuming the Mclaren is still quick around here, then Hamilton should easily be on the podium. Not sure on JB with the penalty. Red Bull have always been good here but maybe not so much this year without the EBD. I can't see Webber in the top 6 here.

It is kind of a Lotus track, but that has been said every race so far :p
 
sunama said:
I've always wondered how an opinion, can be wrong.
Surely opinions are subjective and not statements of fact.

And just because Person A disagrees with with Person B's opinion, it does not make Person B's opinion any less "correct" than Person A.

...and as I've read in someone's sig, if you don't like someone's opinion or post, then you can always put them on ignore. ;)
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No-one said they were 'wrong'.
 
Suzuka preview on F1.com - http://www.formula1.com/news/features/2012/10/13862.html

Suzuka’s single DRS Zone is 20m shorter this year than in 2011. The detection point is 50m before Turn 16 and the activation zone starts at the start-finish line after Turn 18. In other circuit changes, the whole West Course (from Turn 7 until after the chicane) has been resurfaced, while new storm water drainage systems have been installed around the newly resurfaced section of track.

Driver changes for opening practice only will include Giedo van der Garde in for Heikki Kovalainen at Caterham, the Dutchman getting his first Friday outing since the Chinese round back in April.

The weather is expected to be settled, with a mixture of partial cloud and sunshine, and ambient temperatures of around 25 degrees throughout the weekend. Sunday’s race will run over 53 laps of the 5.807 kilometre (3.608 mile) circuit, or 307.471 kilometres (191.056 miles). It starts at 1500 hours local time, 0600 GMT.
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Could be quite a green track with all that new tarmac.
 
Mclaren should get the constructors championship as both are scoring decent points. Webber seems to have been a bit off recently and Massa is just.. Massa. Lotus said this week they are aiming to jump Ferrari to 3rd place.
 
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