FORMULA 1 - 2016

[MIKA27]

Rising chance of rain during Japanese Grand Prix

Wet conditions are possible for both the qualifying session and race at Suzuka this weekend.

Formula One’s official weather forecaster Ubimet warned on Tuesday of a “significant risk for rainy, slick conditions” during the race. Japan’s meteorological agency puts the chance of rain on race day at 60%. However the prospect of rain on Saturday is higher still at 80%.

Tomorrows practice sessions are currently expected to be held in dry conditions. Temperatures will reach around 24C and remain at a similar level for much of the rest of the weekend.

The rain is forecast to arrive on Friday evening and the risk of showers will remain throughout much of Saturdays running. Further showers on Sunday morning may keep the track wet, and thunderstorms are even possible around the race start time of 2pm.

The last two Japanese Grands Prix weekends have seen rain-affected sessions. The 2014 race ran in the aftermath of Typhoon Phanfone and practice was hit by rain last year. The circuit’s drainage system was extensively upgraded ahead of last year’s race in the wake of the 2014 crash which claimed the life of Jules Bianchi.

 

[MIKA27]

Button to work on team, not car development at McLaren in 2017

Jenson Button says his role within McLaren next year will see him take an overview of the team itself, rather than interact with the race drivers on car development.

Button, who will give up his seat to Stoffel Vandoorne in 2017, believes that stepping back from the driving side will allow him to use his experience to pinpoint areas that can be improved.

“I won’t be spending a lot of time with them [the drivers]," Button said. “I won’t be developing the car, because I won’t be driving it. My involvement will be more helping the team to develop as a whole.

"I’ve got a lot of experience working with different teams from a drivers’ point of view. When you step back and have look at the team, there will be areas where I can see we still need work. I think I can help with that, from my experience with the sport.

“When you’re driving, you’re focussed on your driving, you can’t focus on anything else. F1 takes over your life, and it’s all about the development of the car and working with your engineers. You don’t look at the bigger picture.”

     

Motivation still strong

Meanwhile, Button insisted that his motivation isn’t flagging as he approaches his final five races.

“I was asked before ‘What do you think about giving feedback knowing that it’s not going to be used for your car next year?’.

"It doesn’t matter, I’m not going to be working for a rival team. Of course I’m going to give all the feedback I can, I want to see the team do well, I’m still part of the team.

“So I will enjoy every race. Every race I go in for, you want to do the best job you can, you want to outqualify your teammate, you want to beat him in a race, as well as get as many points as you can.

“That never changes. I don’t think that ever changes, however long you’re in the sport. You don’t get tired, you’ll always feel you want to do that. But for me, I need a rest from that pressure that I put on myself to succeed. I want to rest and enjoy myself and have some time to myself.”

[MIKA27]

Verstappen: Anyone but Ricciardo I would have pushed wide

Max Verstappen says the outcome of his thrilling battle with Daniel Ricciardo in Malaysia would have been different if he hadn't been racing his teammate.

Verstappen and Ricciardo battled wheel to wheel through several corners shortly before race leader Lewis Hamilton's engine blew up.

And although Ricciardo was able to hold on before their fight was called off by the virtual safety car coming out, Verstappen says he would not have been so generous in their battle if he had been racing any other rival.

"In to Turn 6, I was like 'well, if it was someone else next to me, then I would have got the move done'," he explained, reflecting on the fight that ultimately decided who won the race.

"I would have pushed them wide, but it's your teammate so you can't."

     

Freedom to race

Verstappen praised the way that Red Bull had elected not to impose team orders, and the fact that he and Ricciardo had proven

"We showed to the team that we could do it in a very respectful way and I think that shows for the future also a lot of confidence," said the Dutchman.

It is something that Ricciardo was happy about too, as he said he never considered the possibility of Red Bull electing to order him to let Verstappen through.

"It didn't come across my mind that the team would say let Max pass, for we were racing," explained Ricciardo. "I didn't really expect a call anyway, I didn't expect it. It was cool.

"I am sure when we came into Turn 5, from the outside, the camera angles make it look the closest. I am sure the team was like...just waiting for both of us to spear off.

"But it was good fun, and nice to be given the chance to race like that and also show the team that we can be sensible in the heat of battle and the heat of the moment."

     

No frustration

Verstappen also insisted that he was not annoyed at seeing an opportunity to score a second race win slip through his fingers.

"No frustrations," he said. "You have to see the positive side and I think that the whole weekend was very strong. The pace was there.

"It was just a bit unfortunate with the last virtual safety car. But that is racing as well. Sometimes it doesn't go your way. I still have a lot of years ahead of me, so I shouldn't be complaining about this single race."

[MIKA27]

Team radio outbursts nothing personal, says Grosjean

Romain Grosjean says that his infamous team radio outbursts reflect his passionate approach to his job and they are not meant to be taken personally by his Haas team.

Grosjean insists that his crew appreciate that he is fully committed to his job, and that his radio messages are just a reflection of that.

“Sometimes I’ve got a tendency to be too pushy and too passionate, but that’s what the guys love,” said Grosjean.

“When I crashed the car in qualifying in Singapore I came back and said, ‘Sorry it’s going to be a lot of work tonight.’ They said, ‘We don’t care, we know you’re out there, you’re doing 120%, and that’s what we want to see.’

“There’s nothing personal when I say the car is bad and so on. It’s to put words on the feeling, which is not so easy to do.

"It’s like when you try something and it’s disgusting, ‘I hate it,’ it’s not against the thing or the cook. It’s just not your taste. But you need to put a word on the feeling. I’m passionate, I’m not a Finn who is very calm, I’m more a Latin guy.

“It sounds like I’m an asshole in the car, but in the end I’m a nice guy, or I think I’m a nice guy, and everyone knows it, and they know that if I’m pushing it’s because I’m pushing myself, and I want to push everyone the same way.

"I’m not coming here, being drunk three nights before, coming in the mornings, ‘Ah, I’m going to do my job.’ I’m coming here, I drank one night, but I’ve trained, I’ve rested, I’ve done my nutrition, I’ve done everything correct, and I want it to be 100%.”

The Frenchman admitted that he has tried to calm down recently: “I’ve tried to back off, because it’s playing on the TV and so on, and people who don’t know me, they think it’s wrong.”

[MIKA27]

SUZUKA FP1: ROSBERG LEADS HAMILTON

World championship leader Nico Rosberg set the pace ahead of team-mate Lewis Hamilton as Mercedes dominated Friday’s opening session of practice for the Japanese Grand Prix.

The German set the lead with 1:32.431 seconds, 0.215 seconds quicker than Hamilton, on a pleasant and sunny morning at the Suzuka circuit.

The Mercedes pair were a second clear of the Ferrari duo of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen who were third and fourth-fastest, respectively.

Vettel heads into the weekend carrying a three-place grid penalty for tipping Rosberg into a spin at the start of the last race in Malaysia.

Rosberg extended his lead over Hamilton to 23 points in the overall standings after the Briton was forced to retire from a comfortable lead in the Sepang race 16 laps from the finish.

As a result, Hamilton heads into Sunday’s Japanese round desperately needing to revive his flagging title hopes with just five races remaining by clinching a third successive win at the Suzuka circuit.

Daniel Ricciardo, who inherited the win from Hamilton following his retirement in Malaysia was fifth fastest.

Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen, who claimed second behind the Australian to secure the team’s first one-two finish since the 2013 season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix, was sixth.

Force India, locked in a battle for fourth in the overall team standings with Williams, showed a strong initial turn of speed.

German Nico Hulkenberg was seventh-fastest for the Silverstone-based squad, ahead of Mexican team-mate Sergio Perez, who trialed the ‘halo’ cockpit protection device.

Fernando Alonso, hoping to impress on home soil for Honda, his McLaren team’s engine supplier, was ninth.

The Spaniard survived an early collision with the barriers when his car snapped out of control on the entry to the fast Spoon corner and slid backwards into the tyre wall lining the track.

[MIKA27]

Hulkenberg expects to remain with Force India

Nico Hulkenberg says he expects to still be with Force India next season as speculation mounts over his future.

The German is a free agent for the 2017 season, and he has been linked with a potential move to Renault as rumours persist over a contract dispute with Force India.

However, speaking at Suzuka ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix, Hulkenberg looked to cool that talk by publicly backing the team.

“Rumours are rumours and facts are facts,” he said.

When asked specifically if he is sure he will be at Force India next year, he answered: “Yes, I think so.”

“Although we are a private team, it is very professional with excellent staff and I love being a part of it.

“Over the years we have progressed together and become one of the best teams behind the leaders.”

[MIKA27]

Honda's Formula 1 engine development token spend reduced by FIA

Honda's Malaysian Grand Prix engine update required fewer Formula 1 development tokens than the Japanese firm thought, the FIA has ruled.

McLaren's engine partner applied to spend one development token on the engine block and one on a new lightweight exhaust, which only Fernando Alonso ran during Friday practice at Sepang last week.

But the FIA believed the engine block changes were for reliability purposes so informed Honda it may not be required to spend a token for the upgrade.

There were further discussions between the two parties in the days before the Japanese GP this weekend.

Those culminated in the FIA requesting that Honda resubmitted the document for the engine block change, citing that it was for reliability.

The paperwork was completed on Thursday at Suzuka and officially confirmed by the FIA on Friday.

Honda now has two tokens remaining but has no plans to use them in the remaining four races.

Providing everything runs smoothly during the Japanese GP weekend, it plans to fit the new engine block to Jenson Button's car for the first time in the United States, which will incur a grid penalty.

Meanwhile, Honda is investigating damage to Alonso's exhaust that was sustained during Friday practice.

The Japanese manufacturer is unsure what caused the damage, though it is likely to have been incurred when he hit the barriers early in the session.

TOKEN SPEND SO FAR

Ferrari 32, 0 remaining
Honda 30, 2 remaining
Mercedes 26, 6 remaining
Renault 14, 18 remaining

[MIKA27]

BUTTON AND ALONSO STRUGGLE IN HONDA HOMECOMING

McLaren duo Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso did not have as smooth an opening day of practice as they might have hoped on Friday ahead of their engine supplier Honda’s home Japanese Formula One Grand Prix.

The Spaniard, who placed ninth fastest in the opening 90 minutes before improving to eighth, described his day as tough after struggling to find the optimal set-up on his car to tackle the flowing twists of the Suzuka circuit.

“We are not yet happy with the set-up,” Alonso, who spun into the barriers early in the first session, told reporters. “We need to keep working at it a little bit tonight.”

Last year’s Japanese race marked arguably the nadir of a bruising return to Formula One for the Japanese carmaker, who renewed a once-dominant partnership with Woking-based McLaren but struggled to adapt to the sport’s new turbo-hybrid rules.

The combination has made steady progress this year, however, and they go into their home race at the Suzuka track – owned by Honda – expecting to score decent points.

Alonso, running an updated engine he first tested in practice at the last race in Malaysia, doubted whether the team would be able to qualify in the top 10.

But the double champion expressed optimism they could still race well on Sunday and put in a good showing in front of the enthusiastic Japanese fans.

“They are everywhere supporting us,” said Alonso. “They are very proud of Honda racing in Formula One and now achieving some good results, so we want to deliver the best results for them.”

Button, who has long been a darling of the Japanese fans, was only 13th and 16th fastest in the two sessions.

The Briton, making way for Belgian rookie Stoffel Vandoorne at the end of the season, is hoping to make the most of what could be his last appearance at Suzuka.

But the 2009 world champion was hampered by unusually high tyre degradation on Friday and is pinning his hopes for a strong result on rain, forecast to hit during either qualifying or the race.

“I’d love it to rain,” Button said. “It’s the only hope we’ve really got to have a mega result here.”

[MIKA27]

GROSJEAN: THERE ARE THINGS I DON’T ACCEPT

Day one of the Japanese Grand Prix weekend at Suzuka has not been kind to Romain Grosjean as brake issues resulted in some big moments during FP1, including an off at the scary Degner Curves.

Brakes, or lack thereof, have been the Achilles heel of Haas in recent races, Grosjean retired in Malaysia with a brake mihap.

Of his problems at Suzuka the Frenchman told media, “You drive at 320km/h and the brake doesn’t work, how would you react? It could be dangerous. Yes, there are things I don’t accept. It’s not against the team, it’s against the suppliers.

“I crashed because the brakes didn’t work, so I think it’s normal to be a bit annoyed. Everywhere it is dangerous but here especially because of the very high speeds.

“The last race we were lucky to escape with nothing bad to happen and then here the brakes don’t work again so it is a bit too much.”

The lack of confidence Grosjeab is having with the brakes has made him change his approach when out on track.

“It is not ideal let us put it that way but of course then you don’t go for the last five metres of braking zone. Qualifying is a different story but in free practice we have to take it carefully.”

“It could be wet too so it may be hard to find the right solution. Hopefully we can change it for tomorrow and make it better,” added Grosjean.

[MIKA27]

SAUBER TO USE 2016 FERRARI ENGINE NEXT YEAR

Sauber will continue to use 2016-specification Ferrari engines next season after deciding to focus their resources on building a better chassis, team principal Monisha Kaltenborn told media at Suzuka.

The struggling Swiss-based Formula One team are last in the standings and still without a point after 16 of the season’s record 21 races.

Including last year’s results, they have not scored for 19 races in a row.

“We will be using the latest specification of the 2016 Ferrari engine in 2017,” Kaltenborn told reporters at Suzuka. “We took this decision a while ago…at a time where actually the rules for next year were not 100 percent clear.

“We took a strategic decision that we want to focus the resources we have on chassis development and performance development, and in a way leave the engine side to the areas we know,” she added.

The decision means only Ferrari and U.S.-owned Haas will have the latest engines next year with Red Bull-owned Toro Rosso, who currently use 2015 specification units, switching to Renault.

Kaltenborn said the team was financially stable and the 2017 car’s development remained on course.

Sauber, Formula One’s fourth oldest team, announced in July a change of ownership with Swiss-based investment firm Longbow Finance taking over. The current drivers are Sweden’s Marcus Ericsson and Brazilian Felipe Nasr.

[MIKA27]

James Allison turns down offer to return to Renault in F1

James Allison has decided not to return to the Renault Formula 1 team, Autosport has learned.

Renault made an approach for Allison in June as it sought to enhance its line up following its takeover of Lotus six months previously.

The French team's hand was further strengthened when Allison left Ferrari at the end of July after three years at Maranello, despite signing a contract extension in September last year that would have kept him at the team until 2018.

But despite ongoing negotiations over the past two months, Allison feels a fourth stint at Enstone is not for him, having previously worked as a junior designer, head of aerodynamics and technical director on his three previous spells.

It is understood Allison has expressed concerns about Renault's apparent lack of leadership behind the scenes.

Aside from Allison, Sergio Perez was eager to join Renault, only to pull out given what he saw as backroom complications and re-sign with Force India for 2017.

It is believed Allison is still eager to return to F1, and with a UK-based team, primarily to continue to spend time with his three children after suffering the sudden loss of wife Rebecca in late March to meningitis.

[MIKA27]

Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg to test F1 2017 tyres next week

Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg will make their first appearance in the 2017 Pirelli Formula 1 tyre tests when they drive the Mercedes mule car next week.

Pirelli has made it clear from the start of its testing programme that it is keen to test with current race drivers as it continues to develop next year's wider tyres.

Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull are working with Pirelli to complete the testing, but so far only Ferrari has used its race drivers, Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel.

Pascal Wehrlein has done the running in both Mercedes tests while former Toro Rosso driver Sebastien Buemi was in the Red Bull.

But at next week's two-day test at Barcelona, which focuses on slick tyre running, Hamilton will drive on Wednesday and Rosberg on Thursday.

Red Bull will continue the testing on Friday through to Sunday in Abu Dhabi, but the team has yet to confirm who will be in the car.

[MIKA27]

Hamilton hoping to claim his third Japan victory in a row

Despite winning the last two races in Japan, World Champion Lewis Hamilton claimed that he has yet to fully master the Suzuka Circuit.

Finishing behind his team-mate and times topper Nico Rosberg in both practice sessions, the Brit said that he was still nonetheless pleased with the way his car performed.

“Honestly, even though I’ve won here twice, this is not up in the top of my best tracks even though I love it,” the triple World Champion revealed.

“I’m just not the quickest here for some reason but it’s something I’m working at, and [in FP2] I was obviously a lot closer so it’s just one step at a time and at the same time we are adjusting the car but there’s just little bits here and there in different corners, apexes, turning points, braking point…

“It’s a beautiful, beautiful track and getting the right flow and the right balance and utilising the tyres as well. But my Saturdays, if it’s drier, are usually a little bit better than my Fridays so hopefully tomorrow will be better.

“We didn’t have any problems on the car and just worked away on set-up. A bit like the last Friday that we had in Sepang, it”s been a strong day, consistent. We’ve got a lot of data so we have to analyse and to work overnight but it’s a good start.”

When quizzed if his 23-point deficit will make him more hungry to win on Sunday, Hamilton explained that it is all about moving forward and putting the negatives behind you.

“When you get in the car you have to have 100 percent belief in your ability and the car and the guys and that you are safe,” he said.

“You don’t ever put negativity in or ‘what if’, it’s all about ‘it will’, so I believe that it will but I believed the last one would and it didn’t, so.”

[MIKA27]

Vettel unconcerned about three-place grid penalty

Despite the Suzuka Circuit being known as a difficult track to overtake, Sebastian Vettel is not worried about his three-place grid penalty that he received last week in Malaysian.

After placing fifth on the times during the second free practice, the German speedster claimed that although it is hard to get past another car, it is not impossible.

“It is [difficult], but on the other hand it’s not impossible,” said Vettel, who was handed a grid penalty for crashing into Nico Rosberg last weekend in Sepang.

“Thank God we’re not in Monaco. They say that it might rain as well at some point this weekend, so I think we need to be ready.

“For sure it doesn’t help if you are starting a little bit further back, but overtaking is possible here, even though it’s not easy.”

He also added that he is not too stressed about his team-mate Kimi Raikkonen out-pacing him during FP2, saying that there is still plenty of data to gather before qualifiers on Saturday.

“I think he got a better lap. Overall I’m not entirely happy with the balance, but I think it’s something that we can work on,” he continued.

“I think in the end obviously we had a run on the softs, and also on the very hard tyre in the afternoon.

“We focused more on the soft in the morning. The balance is not yet there, now we’ll look into the data, and see where we are, also compared to the others, and then go from there.

“For now we need to work on the speed of the car. Ideally you would always love to have more grip around here, because it feels fantastic if you do, but I think we can tune the balance and distribute the grip a little bit better, so that we are in better shape tomorrow.”

[skalls]

Unless the mercs wreck each other, i see it 1/2 with Nico winning.  I think Haas is going to score some points again.  Button won't but Alonso will.

[MIKA27]

SUZUKA QUALIFYING: ROSBERG FENDS OFF HAMILTON

Nico Rosberg fended off Mercedes teammate and title rival Lewis Hamilton to take pole position for the Japanese Grand Prix, after an intriguing qualifying battle at Suzuka held with rain heavy clouds looming overhead.

It was (as usual these days) never in doubt that a Silver Arrows would be the quickest piece of kit around the daunting venue. Whenever required they still have a tad over a quarter of a second per lap up on their closest rivals.

After topping all three free practice sessions, Rosberg had the upper hand over Hamilton in the battle for supremacy between the Mercedes teammates.

But the German was given a stark warning, when Hamilton went tops after the first run in Q3, that he had a battle on his hands.

The championship leader duly went out, dug deeper and found the extra bit needed to snatch back the top spot on the timing screens and claim the all important pole position start for the race with a best lap time of 1:30.647.

Rosberg said afterwards, “I’m happy with the result. I was going well the whole weekend. I had a good balance, feeling good and feeling comfortable. That’s what allows me to put in a lap like that.”

“The start is going to be an important one. From then on I have to get the tyre life to do a long enough stint to get them to work. It’s just putting everything together,” added Rosberg.

Credit to Hamilton for his attempt to rattle the championship leader, but his final attempt fell agonisingly short – a mere 0.017 was the deficit, setting the scene for what should be a fascinating battle between the two title contenders.

Hamilton summed up, “I’m happy with qualifying. It has been a weekend of a lot of work trying to get the set-up right. Big changes before qualifying and considering that I am very happy with it. I did as well as I could. History has shown you don’t have to be on pole to get the win but Nico has done a great job all weekend.”

For the record, Rosberg started from pole in both 2014 and 2015 but Hamilton bounced back to win both those races. The German has yet to win at Suzuka, while the Briton has won here on two occasions, also triumphing in Japan when the race was held at Fuji in 2007.

Ferrari were best of the rest on the day with Kimi Raikkonen third fastest, setting a time 0.302 of a second shy of the pace setters, with teammate Sebastian Vettel fourth fastest, but set to drop down three grid places to seventh as a result of his shenanigans at Sepang a week earlier.

Raikkonen commented,”It’s pretty much the same car as we had last week. I was very positively surprised by how well the car has been behaving and how quick it has been. It has been a bit tricky to get the balance. So far, so good. P3 is not exactly what we’re looking for, but we’re pretty close.”

Max Verstappen was fastest of the Red Bull duo in fifth, with Malaysian Grand Prix winner Daniel Ricciardo sixth on the timing screens.

Force India were again strong with Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg ending the session seventh and ninth respectively.

Biggest surprise of the weekend (thus far) was the performance of both Haas drivers after a torrid time during free practice, Romain Grosjean eighth on the timing screens and teammate Esteban Gutierrez rounding out the top ten, underlining a good recovery for the American outfit.

Much was expected from McLaren at Honda’s home track in front of their local fans, but it was a disappointing homecoming as Jenson Button failed to make it beyond Q1 as his best time was only good for 17th, with Fernando Alonso 15th on the timing sheets.

[MIKA27]

MASSA AND MAGNUSSEN HANDED REPRIMANDS AFTER QUALIFYING

After being called to the FIA race stewards office at Suzuka, Williams driver Felipe Massa and Renault’s Kevin Magnussen were slapped with reprimands for incidents they were involved in during qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix.

The pair were adjudged to have driven too slowly back to the pits during slowdown laps, Magnussen at the end of Q1, with Massa’s offence occurring at the end of Q2.

The rules states that drivers are not to exceed a maximum time between the safety car line at pit exit and the safety car line upon entering the pitlane.

The stewards reported in a steatment: “As no driver was impeded, the Stewards consider a reprimand to be sufficient in this case.”

Massa qualified 12th, while Renault’s Magnussen was 18th.

Magnussen said, “You have a maximum time you can take to do one lap and I was just a little bit over that. You do but we forgot to activate it. We usually have reminders and stuff but somehow we didn’t do it. It’s not a big mistake.”

[MIKA27]

VETTEL: I HAVE A GOOD RELATIONSHIP WITH ARRIVABENE

Sebastian Vettel said he had nothing to sort out with Maurizio Arrivabene, playing down comments the Ferrari team principal made that the German had to earn his place at the Italian Formula One team.

“I know that there is nothing between us, nothing that we need to sort out,” Vettel, who said he was not aware of the comments, told reporters at the Suzuka circuit on Saturday after Japanese Grand Prix qualifying.

“I enjoy a really good relationship with him and I think if there’s something that I don’t like, I tell him and equally the other way around,” the four-times world champion said.

Arrivabene, speaking to broadcaster Sky Sports Italia, made the comments in reference to Vettel’s future.

“Each of us has goals,” Arrivabene said, adding that a decision on Vettel’s contract, which is up for renewal at the end of next season, would be made during 2017. “So it is only right that anyone, no matter who it is, earns their place and their salary.”

He suggested Vettel needed to focus on getting the most out of the car and not get distracted by other aspects of the team’s operation.

Vettel, 29, joined Ferrari at the start of last season, hoping to emulate boyhood idol Michael Schumacher by turning the sport’s most successful season into a championship-winning force again.

The partnership won three races in their first year together, becoming the only team apart from Mercedes to stand on the top step of the podium.

But an expected title challenge has failed to materialise this year with Ferrari slipping back behind Vettel’s former team Red Bull.

The German, who retired on the opening lap of the last race in Malaysia after shoving Nico Rosberg’s Mercedes into a spin, has also come in for criticism from the Italian media.

“As much as the team wants to perform, I want to perform,” said Vettel, who qualified fourth behind team mate Kimi Raikkonen in Japan but will drop three places on the grid as punishment for colliding with Rosberg at Sepang.

“I had races this year where I didn’t do so, I wasn’t happy with myself because there was more on the table,” he added.

Vettel is fifth in the standings, behind Raikkonen. The Finn won the world championship with Ferrari in 2007, the team’s last drivers’ title.

[MIKA27]

HULKENBERG IN AT RENAULT WITH PALMER AND MAGNUSSEN OUT

Nico Hulkenberg is set to be announced as Renault driver, as the French team look for an all new driver line-up for 2017 and are likely to ditch both current drivers, Kevin Magnussen and Jolyon Palmer, at the end of this season.

Auto Bild are reporting that the deal with Hulkenberg is signed and now the team are seeking a French driver for the second seat.

Recently we reported that Renault management requested an option extension from Magnussen, and no it transpires that the team were negotiating a deal with Sergio Perez as well as Hulkenberg – experience high on the team’s wishlist.

The Mexican wanted a one year contract (as he has Ferrari ambitions for 2018) while Renault were insisting a on a longer deal, which Perez refused and opted to extend with his existing team for another season.

Hence Hulkenberg became the number one choice and, according to a separate source close to Renault insiders, an agreement was reached with an announcement set to happen before the United States Grand Prix.

Esteban Ocon was up until recently the favourite for a seat with Renault, but now it has emerged that the deal was done with a handshake between Mercedes chief Toto Wolff (who looks after Ocon’s interests through the junior team programme) and Renault team boss Frederic Vasseur.

Vasseur is reportedly on his way out of the team after less than a year, as he appears to be the loser in a power struggle with Renault F1 CEO Cyril Abiteboul, with the latter set to remain in charge thanks to his connections with the board.

Thus Ocon, a Vasseur choice, may no longer be a certainty for the drive. Latest candidates that have emerged for the seat include former Toro Rosso driver Jean-Eric Vergne as well as Red Bull Junior Pierre Gasly.

Meanwhile with Hulkenberg departing Force India, a good race seat will be up for grabs and the smart money is that Mercedes will do a deal most likely for Pacal Wehrlein, with Ocon also an option should the Frenchman not be signed up by Renault and outshine Wehrlein in the remaining races.

[MIKA27]

Button incurs grid penalty after Honda swaps his McLaren's engine

Jenson Button will start at the back of the grid for the Japanese Grand Prix, after being handed a 35-place grid penalty for changing Formula 1 engine components.

Honda has chosen to change the internal combustion unit, turbocharger, MGU-H, MGU-K, energy store and control electronics on Button's F1 car, for "strategic" reasons. 


As these elements will be his sixth of each of component this season, he exceeds his permitted allocation and incurs grid penalties as a result.

Button will run the updated engine block, which McLaren team-mate Fernando Alonso has run all weekend, for the first time. 


Honda had hoped to wait until the next race in Austin to introduce the update, to avoid taking penalties at its home race at Suzuka. 


But after Button was eliminated in Q1 and ended up 17th fastest, Honda took the decision to make the change on Saturday night, as the grid drop will be minimal.

[MIKA27]

Kimi Raikkonen gets Japanese GP grid penalty after gearbox change

Ferrari Formula 1 driver Kimi Raikkonen has been handed a five-place grid penalty for the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka.

Ferrari has been forced to change the gearbox on Raikkonen's car, and with this being before six consecutive events have expired, it means the Finn drops five places.

Raikkonen had qualified third behind an all-Mercedes front row spearheaded by Nico Rosberg, who pipped team-mate Lewis Hamilton to pole by 0.013s.

The penalty means Raikkonen will now drop to eighth, leading to an all-Red Bull second row of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo.

Force India's Sergio Perez will now start fifth ahead of Raikkonen's team-mate Sebastian Vettel in sixth, with the four-time champion originally handed his own three-place grid drop for causing a collision in Malaysia last Sunday.

[MIKA27]

Haas midfield Formula 1 rivals surprised by its 'strange' speed

The Haas team's midfield Formula 1 rivals have expressed surprise after the American team got both its cars into Q3 for the first time at the Japanese Grand Prix.

Haas lapped outside the top 10 in every practice session at Suzuka, but was best of the rest behind Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull in Q2, before Romain Grosjean matched Sergio Perez's time on his way to eighth fastest in Q3.

Toro Rosso's Carlos Sainz Jr, who ended up 14th quickest, suggested Haas "came from nowhere", while Perez described the performance as "very strange".

"It seems to me they have a very good car but haven't worked out how to work well with it," Perez told Autosport.

"But whenever you see a Haas competitive they are very competitive. All of a sudden they [can] do a lap - especially with Grosjean.

"But they are generally quick, and Williams the same."

Haas's best qualifying result of the season came at the expense of Williams, with both Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa dropping out in Q2.

"The surprise is that Haas were quicker than we were expecting looking at the last races," said Massa.

"Without Haas, we would have had both cars into Q3. We were one tenth slower than Force India in Q2. It's frustrating."

FRONT WING DEVELOPMENT KEY

Haas put its improved form down to a breakthrough with its Singapore upgrade package, specifically getting the front wing to work correctly.

The part was modified overnight and fitted to both cars for final practice.

"We had to make it a bit more stable because one of the flaps was moving," explained team boss Gunther Steiner.

"So we had to stabilise that, and we got that all right.

"We had all these issues, and if you start the weekend in FP1 with mechanical issues you don't have time to evaluate and focus on development of new parts.

"It was the first time we could use them and get the data to really understand them.

"This is one of the main things, and I'm sure our car for this type of track is better suited than for other types of track.

"We knew if we could get a lap together we would be pretty good, but we thought getting two cars into Q3 was a too ambitious thought.

"Everything came together, the stars aligned."

Grosjean felt he would have beaten Perez but for a DRS glitch that cost him "three or four hundredths" on the final straight, while Gutierrez was seventh quickest in Q2 but got held up by Lewis Hamilton on the final part of his Q3 out-lap and lost crucial tyre temperature.

"The biggest change was that new front wing, which is very positive for the future," said Grosjean, who explained that a front suspension problem in Singapore and Malaysia on his car disrupted evaluation of the new aero parts.

"It shows we are going in the right direction with upgrades."

[MIKA27]

Ricciardo says engine was 'bleeding' power in qualifying at Suzuka

Daniel Ricciardo says the Renault Formula 1 engine in his Red Bull was "bleeding" power in qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix, meaning sixth was the best he could do.

The Australian, who will start fifth thanks to Sebastian Vettel's three-place grid penalty, felt the problem cost him at least a tenth of a second.

Ricciardo said he has suffered from the problem in previous race weekends but team-mate Max Verstappen, who qualified six-hundredths of a second faster, did not have the same issue.

"I was losing straightline speed," said Ricciardo.

"It's not the first time, we saw signs of it last week and it had a bigger effect this week.

"It's just a bit frustrating because you see the overlay [with Verstappen], you see I'm doing pretty good in the corners and just bleeding on the straights.

"We all want the same for both us but it's just sometimes luck of the draw."

Ricciardo is due to get a new engine for the next race at Austin, but is unsure if the mileage of his current power unit is contributing to the problem.

"Normally you don't see a deg in the engines, they hold pretty well for the life they are supposed to do," he said.

"But it was there last week, I didn't bring it up but it's been there a few times this year."

Ricciardo is confident the problem won't have such an impact in the race tomorrow, when engines aren't running at maximum power.

"Once we start running a bit more conservative in the race, the deficit becomes less," he said.

"I don't expect it to be as much tomorrow. If it is I will just drive harder.

"I hate making excuses but that's just how it was today, unfortunately."

He added he is confident of finishing on the podium, whether the race is held in wet or dry conditions.

"Our long run pace yesterday was really solid and even though we didn't qualify as far up as we would've liked, I'm still confident we can somehow find a way through tomorrow," said Ricciardo.

"But if it's wet then I think we will have a really strong car."

Verstappen had a gear synch problem in qualifying, but this was fixed in time for his final run.

He added that the pace of the Ferraris, with Kimi Raikkonen and Vettel setting third and fourth fastest times, was not a surprise.

"The whole weekend they've been strong, and I knew before qualifying it was going to be very close, and it was like that, within a tenth," he said.

[MIKA27]

JAPANESE GRAND PRIX: ROSBERG WINS, MERCEDES CHAMPIONS

Nico Rosberg won the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka for the first time in his career and with it increased his world championship points lead while helping Mercedes wrap up the 2016 Formula 1 World Championship title – their third in three years.

Rosberg took advantage of Lewis Hamilton’s slow get-away from pole position, which saw the world champion slip down to eighth by the time the field reached Turn 1.

Immediately Rosberg, pursued by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, began to eke out a lead and thereafter manage the pace at the front. He was never challenged and was allowed to cruise to his ninth win of the season, stretching his championship points lead to 33 points in the process.

Crucially Rosberg can now afford to finish behind Hamilton in the remaining four races and still win the championship.

Rosberg said on the podium, “What an awesome weekend. It’s beautiful to win here and congratulations to my colleagues and team for clinching constructors’ championship and let’s celebrate hard.”

For his title rival, Hamilton, it was an afternoon of playing catch-up and damage limitation (how often have we hear those words this year?)

His strategy was to maximise his first set of tyres, which he did, allowing him to run a couple of laps longer than his rivals before stopping for tyres. When he emerged from the pits, he was sixth and a few laps later fifth.

With a few laps to go Hamilton was third and in hot pursuit of Verstappen for second place. But the teenager held firm, as has become his trademark. The Mercedes driver attacked on the penultimate lap going into the Chicane, but Verstappen defended the inside line and Hamilton was forced straight down the escape road.

Thus Verstappen claimed second, in what was another tenacious and impressive drive by the teenager who ended up half a minute up on his teammate Daniel Ricciardo in fifth place.

Verstappen said, “There was a lot of traffic but we saved tyres in last stint. To race Mercedes is always positive and to come home in second I have to give a thanks to the team. Lewis was pushing hard and had a little moment and pleased to finish second.”

Hamilton did come on the radio to complain (with little conviction it could be said) that Verstappen had moved twice as they powered into the Chicane.

In the end third from eighth was a good recovery, but he will be lamenting the fact that pole position happened to be near a damp patch on the track and also that he fumbled when the lights went out, compromising his start, which he apologised for over the radio.

The world champion said afterwards, “Congratulations to the team, I’m very proud to be part of it. I did the best I could from where I was in the race. I will give it everything I have got [for the rest of the season] and we will see what happens.”

Up next were the Ferrari pair of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen in fourth and fifth respectively.

Vettel enjoyed a good early part of the race, running in third and chasing down Verstappen, but in the end the Ferrari simply did not have the firepower when it mattered. The same applied for Raikkonen who had handy pace early on but any challenge to the top three simply fizzled out as the race progressed.

Ricciardo, who started behind Hamilton on the grid, had to take avoiding action at the start and dropped positions, while the timing of his first pit stop saw him emerge behind Jolyon Palmer. The battle that ensued cost the Australian valuable time.

Palmer, who was defending his position, also inadvertently tripped up Sergio Perez and Raikkonen, shortly after their stops, which ultimately allowed Hamilton to leap frog the pair after his first stop,

Perez finished seventh, ahead of teammate Nico Hulkenberg as Force India outscored their championship rivals Williams whose drivers Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas finished ninth and tenth respectively.

Race Report

At the start of the race Rosberg made a clean getaway, but Hamilton’s start was dreadful. He bogged down badly and was immediately overrun by rivals. Verstappen moved to second, Force India’s Sergio Perez flew past into third and Daniel Ricciardo held fourth. Hamilton dropped to eighth place.

Vettel, who had started sixth due to the grid penalty had had incurred after the previous race in Malaysia, was soon on the march, however. He muscled his way past Ricciardo on lap one and on the following tour breezed past Perez to take third place.

Hamilton, too, was attempting to make his way forward and on lap seven he overtook Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg to claim sixth place. He now had two seconds to make up to P6 man Kimi Raikkonen.

Verstappen and Ricciardo were the first of the top-10 starters to shed their opening stint soft tyres, with Red Bull Racing pitting their drivers at the same time at the end of lap 11. Both took on hard compound Pirelli tyres.

Their halt for tyres triggered a steady stream of pit stops as the main contenders all filed towards pit lane over the following few laps. All took hard tyres.

After 23 laps Rosberg was comfortably in the lead, holding a four-second advantage over Verstappen. Vettel was 2.7s further back in third place, while Hamilton had worked his way back up to fourth ahead of Ricciardo and Raikkonen.

That order was maintained through the second stint but while Rosberg maintained control ahead of Verstappen, Hamilton managed to pass Vettel in the next and final round of pit stops.

Perhaps anticipating the move, Vettel took on soft tyres in his second stop and set off in close pursuit of Hamilton in the opening laps of his final stint. The Briton, though, defended resolutely in the opening laps of the stint and then began to pull away from the Ferrari as the German’s tyres began to drift from their optimum performance level.

After the second stops and behind the front four, Raikkonen was now looking comfortable in fifth, six seconds behind Vettel but 14 seconds clear of Ricciardo. Perez was now seventh ahead of Hulkenberg, Massa and Bottas.

The biggest battle in the closing stages was between Verstappen and Hamilton. The Mercedes man closed to within DRS range of the Red Bull Racing driver and at the end of the penultimate lap he launched an assault around the outside of the Dutch driver. Verstappen was not for moving, however, and Hamilton was forced to overshoot the chicane and he lost ground to the Red Bull driver.

Ahead, Rosberg was comfortable and after 53 laps he crossed the line to take his ninth win of the season with almost five seconds in hand over Verstappen.

Hamilton’s third place, meanwhile, was enough to give Mercedes an unassailable lead in the battle for the Constructors’ title and they are now set to pick up their third crown in a row at the final round in Abu Dhabi.

Ferrari secured fourth and fifth, with Vettel ahead of Raikkonen, but Verstappen’s second place and sixth for Ricciardo means that Red Bull Racing extend their advantage over the Scuderiato 50 points in the battle for second place.

Perez and Hulkenberg sealed seventh and eighth places respectively and with Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas only managing ninth and tenth, Force India extend their lead over Williams to 10 points in the battle for fourth place.

[MIKA27]

MERCEDES TEAM CELEBRATE THE TRIPLE AT SUZUKA

Mercedes were finally able to break out the champagne on after clinching their third straight Formula 1  constructors’ crown at the Japanese Grand Prix.

Nico Rosberg eased to a comfortable win at the Suzuka circuit which, combined with a third-place finish for team mate Lewis Hamilton, lifted the German team 208 points clear of closest rivals Red Bull.

With just four races remaining and a maximum 172 points up for grabs, the result guaranteed Mercedes the title and had champagne corks popping after an engine blowout for Hamilton last week in Malaysia obliged them to put the bubbly back on ice.

“Congrats … to all my colleagues in the team, for clinching a third constructors’ world title,” said Rosberg on the podium after the race.

“So absolutely deserved, definitely it’s been an unbelievable effort all these years, so let’s celebrate hard.”

The team seemed to be doing just that, spraying champagne in the pitlane and posing for celebratory photographs in front of their garage wearing specially-printed t-shirts emblazoned with ‘The Triple’.

Even employees at the team’s headquarters in Brackley, England, got in on the act, also wearing the celebratory t-shirts and spraying champagne.

“Big congratulations to the team,” said Hamilton, despite a personally disappointing race that pushed a fourth drivers’ title further out of his reach.

“Very proud to be a part of it and to help contribute to it,” added the Briton, who has claimed the drivers’ championship for the last two years.

Mercedes have been the dominant force in Formula One since the introduction of the 1.6-litre turbo hybrid engines in 2014.

The team have won 47 of the 55 races held since and Sunday’s win in Japan was their 15th from 17 races this year.

Only Ferrari, McLaren, Williams and Red Bull have won three or more titles in a row, with the Italian outfit the only ones to achieve the feat twice.

Whether Mercedes can carry on their winning run into next year will depend on how they adapt to sweeping rule changes being introduced next season.

Cars will feature wider tyres and bodywork, in changes aimed at making them faster and more exciting to drive which could shake up the current order.

Mercedes have been against this, arguing that allowing the current rules to mature would result in a convergence between teams and lead to closer racing.

“It’s what we always said,” team boss Toto Wolff told reporters.

“But then somebody else decided to invent something new for next year then it’s back to square one, I guess.”