Japanese Grand Prix 2015, Suzuka - Race 14/19

Shimmy

Shimmy

Shimmy

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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 now infamous collisions involving Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna.

Such moments only added to Suzuka's appeal with fans, with the Grand Prix now attracting some of the most passionate and knowledgeable crowds in F1 racing.

The track has also become a favourite with drivers, featuring some of the F1 calendar's most challenging corners. Among the most popular 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.
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TV Times

Sky:
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BBC:
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Track Diagram & Information

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Weather Forecast

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2014 Onboard Lap

http://www.formula1.com/content/fom.../3/Japan_2014_-_Nico_Rosberg_onboard_lap.html


2014 Race Edit

http://www.formula1.com/content/fom-website/en/video/2015/3/Japan_2014_-_race_edit.html


Japan Preview Quotes

http://www.formula1.com/content/fom-website/en/latest/headlines/2015/9/japan-preview-quotes.html


WDC Standings

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Constructors' Championship Standings

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Pole Positions & Winners Per Grand Prix

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Practice 1

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Practice 2

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Practice 3

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Qualifying

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Race

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MooMoo444 said:
Didn't realize how close Vettel actually was to Rosberg until I saw that table. Amazing.
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This is why his recent lack of pace compared to Hamilton is such a problem. Half a second down in qualifying and race pace will start to become problematic with an improving Ferrari. They had quite a few fairly significantly looking aero improvements, wonder if that Haas wind tunnel time is starting to pay off now.

Rosberg is having trouble getting away on the line as well as race pace problems. I can honestly see Vettel now getting quite a few front row starts and Rosberg being fairly unlikely to pass him at the start and struggling to pace in the race.

Hell if Vettel starts beating Rosberg in qualifying their starts might get him ahead of Hamilton though Hamilton with better pace and better overtaking would be much more able to get ahead of Vettel on track or at pitstops than Rosberg would.

I think Hamilton will still dominate the rest of the season but Vettel has a very good chance of taking 2nd in the championship from Rosberg.
 
Suspect for obvious reasons any rain will be treated with super caution (even more than usual!) which means we could have a lot of hanging around or safety car running.

Don't know if there are any events planned for Jules this weekend or whether the drivers will do something privately.
 
I love this circuit, and a bit of rain will spice things up a bit. If the Ferrari aero really has improved then I wonder how much better their wet performance will be.

Rain would be even more bad news for Rosberg - he doesn't exactly dominate when things get a bit slippery.
 
The minimum pressures were increased for Monza and they thumped everyone there so unlikely. Singapore is a very unique track. Merc's advantage over the RB cars last year at the same track was 2-3 tenths whereas everywhere else it was a lot bigger. It is their boogey track.
 
Will be interesting to see how Vettel and Ferrari get on this weekend.

Ferrari introduced a new floor last weekend which provided cleaner air to the diffuser, apparently gave Vettel the confidence in the rear much like his time with the blown diffusers at RBR.
 
IPBA said:
The minimum pressures were increased for Monza and they thumped everyone there so unlikely.
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But only measured when leaving for the grid, so irrelevant to now where they can be measured minutes before the race. I don't know why the FIA doesn't have the live data from all the teams though, would seem a simpler way of keeping check.

Either way, I expect normal service to resume.
 
Duke said:
But only measured when leaving for the grid, so irrelevant to now where they can be measured minutes before the race. I don't know why the FIA doesn't have the live data from all the teams though, would seem a simpler way of keeping check.

Either way, I expect normal service to resume.
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In Monza they were measured on the grid, that is where all the issues were.

They were set to 19.5psi in the garage with the Pirelli guy watching when heated to the correct temp. Pressure is proportional to temp. The issue arose entirely because they were measured on the grid with the tire out of the tire blankets thus all the tires were tested at different temperatures. The merc tires were done last, longest out of the tire blanket and at lower temps. The pressure drop was directly proportional to the temp drop while out of the blankets.
 
Lots to consider this weekend.

1. Jenson - seems very smiley this weekend.
2. Lotus/Renault. Locked out and can a deal really be done?
3. Red Bull with Renault/Ferrari/VW. Renault out but not confirmed, a year old Ferrari engine for Red Bull? and VW - can't see them being interested in F1 at the moment. Could Red Bull really leave?
4. In all, the future of F1 as it stands today.

Lotus and Renault may be gone next year, as could Red Bull and Torro Rosso. Mercedes with engine problems. McLaren/Honda having issues, maybe another weekend for the Ferrari cars, Ferrari, Manor and Sauber now there would be a podium :-)

Andi.
 
Its not as simple as that.

Currently the rules don't allow Red Bull to use a 1 year old engine. The V6 rules stipulate a single homologated engine specification per manufacturer per season.

2015 is a blip, two fold. Firstly Marussia have been given special permission (i.e. agreement from all teams, the FIA and FOM) to use year old engines, and secondly, the FIA forgot to add the 2015 homologation date to the regulations, which is why we have got mid season upgrades going on.

But, this won't be the case for 2016 (currently). The homologation date is 28th February 2016, after which that spec of engine per manufacturer is frozen and to be used by all teams throughout the whole 2016 season. Under the current regulations, if Ferrari supplied RBR with engines, they would have to be current spec engines.

However, there are other cost cutting talks going on. One side is the wind tunnel bit, which is a different argument for another day about how stupid that is... but the key bit is the talks about engines and their pricing. The current chat is that there will be a cap imposed on the cost of a years supply of V6 engines (around $9m), and also that the FIA will allow the previous years engines to also be supplied, at a lower capped price (around $6m).

Mercedes and Honda are against the Current -1 previous engines idea, whereas Ferrari are supporting it.

So... if you add it all together you can see that its highly likely that the Ferrari engines deal for RBR is actually hanging on if the Current -1 rules get put in place. There is the real possibility that if the FIA don't put the Current -1 rules in, Ferrari then do the same as Mercedes and withdraw their offer of engines, and RBR and STR vanish.

Theres also the other posibility that if the Current -1 rules do happen, Mercedes suddenly jump back in offering RBR a prior year engine contract.

I seriously doubt we will see any decision on RBR/STR and engines until after the WMC has voted for/against the Current -1 rules.
 
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