The Japanese Grand Prix, held at the remodelled Suzuka Circuit since 1987 (thanks to google for that fact) has produced some spectacular racing over the years. With a highly technical first sector, corners like 130R and Spoon (no, I’ve no idea where they come up with these names either), and a high chance of rain, it’s never a simple job to predict quite what a race weekend will bring. Though the race itself was quiet enough up front, there was plenty of action to discuss, including the old reliables of Kevin Magnussen trying to kill half the grid and Ferrari’s strategy team bottling it. Not to mentions some slightly unsettling input from our special guests…
Join Rian McDonnell and F1 novice Joe Molloy as they stumble and joke their way through each round of the Formula 1 World Championship.
We tried to avoid it last week, but apparently it’s a thing we may have to deal with. The powers that be have floated the idea of introducing a fourth qualifying session. You can read about it from Sky here, or alternatively you just can do as we do and pray to whatever gods we choose that it doesn’t happen.
I’ll be honest, I’m pretty much out of jokes about the driver market refusing to die. In hindsight, that was probably inevitable, but it still hurts. With that in mind, we probably should have guessed that the driver we thought was a sure thing last week, Artem Markalov, is pretty much a no-go after his father was arrested in bribery charges. Welp.
Meanwhile, the second Toro Rosso seat is still up in the air, with chatter about a return of Pascal Wehrlein dying down. However, this story continues to twist and turn, and just before we published Motorsport reported that Wehrlein had refused a Formula E seat with HWA, seemingly continuing to hold out hope of a drive in F1 next year.
“Ferrari had a pretty disastrous day on [insert name of day here]” is pretty much part of the stock text for these notes to be honest. This week it was actually both Saturday and Sunday, but Saturday’s goof with Q3 tyre choice was particularly hard to believe. Twitter reaction was funny, at least…
Daniel Ricciardo’s run of awful luck also continued on Saturday. It’s been pretty heartbreaking to watch, especially considering what a deserved fan favourite the Aussie is.
As mentioned, Ferrari’s woes didn’t end after qualifying, as both their drivers had contact with Max Verstappen early in the race that hurt their performance. Verstappen picked up a penalty for his contact with Räikkönen, and we debated whether it was really deserved. Race director Charlie Whiting was less on the fence, and made his thoughts known after the race. Read about that here.
Whatever about the first penalty, there was real debate about whether the contact between Vettel and Verstappen deserved a penalty in either direction. While neither driver was punished, there was plenty to say about it after the race. Motorsport analysed the incident in this article, which you can read if you like. Or just join us as we sob quietly watching Ferrari take every available opportunity to mess up. Your call.
Not all the discussion was so two-sided though. Pretty much everyone seemed to agree Kevin Magnussen, Rian’s official “Bad Boy of F1” award winner, was extremely lucky to escape a penalty after causing a collision between himself and Charles Leclerc.