Surprise Japanese Grand Prix thread!

[Rob Dylan]

So yeah, this hasn't been made yet. Oops.

So yeah, this looks like it might be a Mercedes white-wash.

So yeah, can anyone bring a little hype to this weekend's race?

[AdrianBelmonte_]

If only Yuji Ide was in...

[Bobby Doorknobs]

So yeah, can anyone bring a little hype to this weekend's race?

Got you fam.

[Rob Dylan]

So yeah, can anyone bring a little hype to this weekend's race?

Got you fam.

Thank you, that was exactly what the forum needed

But yeah, after Vettel and Ferrari's blunder, they're honestly in danger of allowing Hamilton to win the title in Austin again! If the points gap increased by a big amount tomorrow, we'd be looking at a super-dominant title win for Hamilton and Mercedes that would have been deemed impossible after the first few rounds.

[dinizintheoven]

If only Yuji Ide was in...

I saw someone in the grandstand during the qualifying session wearing a Super Aguri baseball cap with number 23 on it. It could have been in support of Sakon Yamamoto. Or, less likely in Japan, Anthony Davidson or Franck Montagny. But it could have been for Yuji Ide.

Dare to dream.

[dr-baker]

If only Yuji Ide was in...

I saw someone in the grandstand during the qualifying session wearing a Super Aguri baseball cap with number 23 on it. It could have been in support of Sakon Yamamoto. Or, less likely in Japan, Anthony Davidson or Franck Montagny. But it could have been for Yuji Ide.

Dare to dream.

Last weekend at the BTCC season finale at Brands Hatch (thanks spectoremg!), I bought a no. 22 red Super Aguri cap...

[mario]

So yeah, can anyone bring a little hype to this weekend's race?

Got you fam.

Thank you, that was exactly what the forum needed

But yeah, after Vettel and Ferrari's blunder, they're honestly in danger of allowing Hamilton to win the title in Austin again! If the points gap increased by a big amount tomorrow, we'd be looking at a super-dominant title win for Hamilton and Mercedes that would have been deemed impossible after the first few rounds.

Apparently, Aguri Suzuki was at the circuit this weekend to drive the Benetton B189 between the practise sessions.

As for Vettel and Ferrari, it is remarkable how, in just a handful of races, everything seems to have fallen apart. Having been so imperious in Belgium, Ferrari's form has suddenly gone backwards very quickly - the SF71H has started suffering from problems with rear tyre blistering far more frequently than in the past, whilst traction out of slow corners, once one of their strong points, has now become something of a weakness.

Some have noticed that Ferrari do not seem to be as quick in a straight line, and that the strange pattern of acceleration they had shown in the middle of the season - where, apparently, the GPS traces suggested the car was getting a second burst of speed on the straights when the MGU-K should have been running out of energy - seems to have now vanished.

There are those who have suggested that it might be down to the FIA stepping in on the way that they managed their MGU-H and MGU-K, though what exactly has gone on is something only they and the FIA will know - that said, their apparent lack of straight line performance could also be down to the fact they've been running a higher downforce set up, especially with the rear wing, than their rivals. Whatever it is, it seems to have been pushing Ferrari towards taking a lot more risks with their strategies in an effort to compensate for a lack of pace, but those gambles just aren't paying dividends right now.

Not only have their strategies not really been paying off, Vettel also seems to have been pushing too hard to try and overcome that, resulting in him becoming quite a bit more error prone. He's had three races in a row - Singapore, Sochi and now Suzuka - where, on his qualifying runs, he has made mistakes: he got away with it in Sochi, where Red Bull didn't run, but was a little fortunate he didn't lose out more in Singapore. He might, however, pay much more dearly for it here - if he gets stuck behind Grosjean, he could be in trouble given that Grosjean is starting on the softs (which is the better starting tyre) and will be running a longer first stint than Vettel.

Hamilton and Mercedes seem to be working together like a well oiled machine now, and they have been continuing to turn the screw on Vettel race after race - and it seems to be working. It's as if Hamilton convinced Vettel that he would inevitably win the WDC this year, and that does seem to have upset his mental state - he's been more agitated in recent races and his error rate has increased.

It now seems to be inevitable that Hamilton will win the WDC, but it feels as if that is because he convinced Vettel that is what will happen and that, as time passes, Vettel's performance continues to deteriorate to the point where it's become a self fulfilling prophecy - the worse he performs, the more pressure he puts himself under and the more errors he makes, letting Hamilton win more and continuing that cycle.

[Klon]

There are those who have suggested that it might be down to the FIA stepping in on the way that they managed their MGU-H and MGU-K, though what exactly has gone on is something only they and the FIA will know - that said, their apparent lack of straight line performance could also be down to the fact they've been running a higher downforce set up, especially with the rear wing, than their rivals. Whatever it is, it seems to have been pushing Ferrari towards taking a lot more risks with their strategies in an effort to compensate for a lack of pace, but those gambles just aren't paying dividends right now.

So in other words, the FIA interfered to help their golden cow win the title. Why am I not surprised?

[Miguel98]

That Vettel attempted move on Verstappen was something of a... dear god. And the putting the blame on Max for it was even worse.

[WeirdKerr]

For the 3rd race in a row I didn't watch live, i've had it with F1

farewell...

[mario]

There are those who have suggested that it might be down to the FIA stepping in on the way that they managed their MGU-H and MGU-K, though what exactly has gone on is something only they and the FIA will know - that said, their apparent lack of straight line performance could also be down to the fact they've been running a higher downforce set up, especially with the rear wing, than their rivals. Whatever it is, it seems to have been pushing Ferrari towards taking a lot more risks with their strategies in an effort to compensate for a lack of pace, but those gambles just aren't paying dividends right now.

So in other words, the FIA interfered to help their golden cow win the title. Why am I not surprised?

That is a bit of a wild claim to make, as for a start Abiteboul has also made remarks about how Renault thought there was something suspect about Ferrari's power unit based on their GPS data. Hulkenberg is also recorded as saying that he was surprised at how much time the Ferrari's were gaining on the straights in Hockenheim during the German GP, so it suggests that Renault might have been passing that information to the FIA and encouraging them to take further action against Ferrari.

Helmut Marko is also reported as having lobbied the FIA to continue investigating Ferrari given that he also seems to have found Ferrari's straight line performance rather suspect, so you might be wrongly ascribing any action by the FIA to Mercedes given Renault and Red Bull also seem to have been lobbying them to take further action.

That does, of course, depend on whether the story surrounding the sensors is even true, as it is possible that the whole story might in fact be misleading. Whiting was asked whether the FIA have added an extra sensor to the car in the pre-race interviews and he replied that they have not, whilst Motorsport Magazine have suggested that the "additional sensor" doesn't actually exist and that the rumour is being spread by rival teams to undermine Ferrari.

As has been noted, Singapore wasn't exactly an ideal venue to test that hypothesis given it is a very slow track; as for Sochi, they were running a noticeably higher downforce package than their rivals, so you would naturally expect them to be slower in a straight line given their higher downforce package and problems with poor rear traction. We also saw in Japan that, whilst they were topping the speed trap, they were also suffering from problems with their rear tyres blistering whilst their rivals were OK - they did seem to be beginning to struggle with drivability out of the final corner sooner than their rivals, so that could be something that is being misinterpreted as a power unit restriction when the real issues with drivability are related to poor mechanical grip.

That Vettel attempted move on Verstappen was something of a... dear god. And the putting the blame on Max for it was even worse.

To be fair, I can see why he went for the move in those circumstances - Verstappen was quite slow on the entry into Spoon corner and initially didn't seem to be doing too much to stop Vettel attacking. Whilst some have suggested that he should have waited, Ferrari's problems with blistering tyres might have been playing on his mind - we saw how Kimi was forced into an early pit stop - so he might have been keen to get the move done before his tyres started going off.

[Rob Dylan]

I'm sorry to say I slept in and missed this one, unfortunately! But after watching the highlights, although the front-runners were quite static with one notable exception it seemed like an ok race. I will try not to sleep in again next time though my bad

[Samster]

So if it wasn't bad enough that the top three teams are so far ahead of the rest now it seems Mercedes are just about back to 2014-16 level of dominance only now they have a clear hierarchy with their drivers. This season has gone from exciting title race to sad joke so fast this may be my new least favourite season. (For the record that was 2015)

If Mercedes aren't toppled soon my interest in F1 may drop more permanently.

[Rob Dylan]

So if it wasn't bad enough that the top three teams are so far ahead of the rest now it seems Mercedes are just about back to 2014-16 level of dominance only now they have a clear hierarchy with their drivers. This season has gone from exciting title race to sad joke so fast this may be my new least favourite season. (For the record that was 2015)

If Mercedes aren't toppled soon my interest in F1 may drop more permanently.

Add to that, I know my personal backlash against the team orders in Russia has amplified after seeing just how dominant Mercedes are yet again here. It seems that losing either championship is now all but impossible for them, and even a Bottas win would have been preferable to nothing at all.

But I recall this forum was in a very similar shape in mid-2013, where a lot of users were becoming more and more vocal against Red Bull and Vettel. It really is frustrating when periods of dominance like this occur, especially when the divide between those top teams is so massive. Let's all just hope for next year I suppose.

[Paul Hayes]

Well, it's certainly all over now. The title is Hamilton's. Such a shame, I'd been really hoping for a close, down-to-the-wire title fight this season.

[Barbazza]

At least it's good of them to all but wrap it up just as Doctor Who returns to the screen, given that 3 of the last 4 races (I think) clash!

[Fetzie]

So if it wasn't bad enough that the top three teams are so far ahead of the rest now it seems Mercedes are just about back to 2014-16 level of dominance only now they have a clear hierarchy with their drivers. This season has gone from exciting title race to sad joke so fast this may be my new least favourite season. (For the record that was 2015)

If Mercedes aren't toppled soon my interest in F1 may drop more permanently.

Add to that, I know my personal backlash against the team orders in Russia has amplified after seeing just how dominant Mercedes are yet again here. It seems that losing either championship is now all but impossible for them, and even a Bottas win would have been preferable to nothing at all.

But I recall this forum was in a very similar shape in mid-2013, where a lot of users were becoming more and more vocal against Red Bull and Vettel. It really is frustrating when periods of dominance like this occur, especially when the divide between those top teams is so massive. Let's all just hope for next year I suppose.

To be fair, that frustration has always happened when a single team goes through a period of dominance (and there almost always is a dominating team. Look at the last 20 years, we've basically had four teams that went through multi-year periods of "always winning": Ferrari, McLaren, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes. There will always be a "dominating" team (which is why it is often more interesting to follow the "reject" teams and the classification positions outside the top 5).

[Bobby Doorknobs]

There will always be a "dominating" team (which is why it is often more interesting to follow the "reject" teams and the classification positions outside the top 5).

This really is the best solution. I've been following a championship in my head based on this system (note: not the same as Meatwad's champion elimination thing) since around 2012. Seeing if Ocon can reel in Magnussen for 8th place has taken on a special level of importance for me, to the point where I've started to pay more attention to that than the "main" championship.

Mind you, I expect Leclerc to walk away with it next year unless Gasly could have something to say about it...

[Samster]

So if it wasn't bad enough that the top three teams are so far ahead of the rest now it seems Mercedes are just about back to 2014-16 level of dominance only now they have a clear hierarchy with their drivers. This season has gone from exciting title race to sad joke so fast this may be my new least favourite season. (For the record that was 2015)

If Mercedes aren't toppled soon my interest in F1 may drop more permanently.

Add to that, I know my personal backlash against the team orders in Russia has amplified after seeing just how dominant Mercedes are yet again here. It seems that losing either championship is now all but impossible for them, and even a Bottas win would have been preferable to nothing at all.

But I recall this forum was in a very similar shape in mid-2013, where a lot of users were becoming more and more vocal against Red Bull and Vettel. It really is frustrating when periods of dominance like this occur, especially when the divide between those top teams is so massive. Let's all just hope for next year I suppose.

As bad as seasons where one driver/team dominate from the start are, it feels even worse when you start out with a decent title battle only for one driver to suddenly start dominating late in the season like with this season and 2013 (another of my least favourite seasons). You just kind of feel cheated in the end.

[UncreativeUsername37]

I know my personal backlash against the team orders in Russia has amplified after seeing just how dominant Mercedes are yet again here. It seems that losing either championship is now all but impossible for them, and even a Bottas win would have been preferable to nothing at all.

Many team orders could be rendered unnecessary by seeing the future.

[Fetzie]

I know my personal backlash against the team orders in Russia has amplified after seeing just how dominant Mercedes are yet again here. It seems that losing either championship is now all but impossible for them, and even a Bottas win would have been preferable to nothing at all.

Many team orders could be rendered unnecessary by seeing the future.

If I'm honest, in the situation that Toto Wolff was in last Sunday, I would not have done anything different (except maybe be more up-front with Bottas about what the team had decided to do). And, as their boss, I would expect the drivers to accept that. The Mercedes/Diamler executives expect both championships to go to Mercedes. To ensure that is Toto Wolff's job. Hamilton is not yet WDC. Mercedes is not yet WCC. Therefore, every decision has to further that goal and Bottas had to let Hamilton through.

Hamilton's engine could have blown up today, and he then be taken out by the midfield on the first corner in Austin in two weeks time after serving a round of grid position penalties from using a new engine. If Bottas had not let Hamilton though, that would have put him 8 points behind Vettel with 3 races to go (Hamilton would have had to win two races out of the last three to win the Championship). Hamilton winning in Russia meant that he would have two DNFs in hand over Vettel.

And yeah, I didn't know that Ferrari would %$§" up the Q3 strategy so badly, putting Vettel in a position where he had to attack (ok, maybe he could have waited for the long straight after that corner) and take some risks. Nobody did. You make the decision that at the time makes the greatest contribution to the team's goals. On lap 25 last Sunday, that was telling Bottas to let Hamilton through. You can also bet that Toto will order Bottas to let Hamilton past should he be leading the race after the pitstops in Austin to let Hamilton take the championship, if Hamilton can't get past while racing.