The 2022 Japanese Grand Prix Thread

[cmlean]

This is the place to discuss everything related to the 18th round of the 2022 season taking place in Suzuka between the 7th and 9th of October.

The event timetable for the Japanese Grand Prix.

Friday
1st Practice 12:00 local time - 03:00 GMT
2nd Practice 15:00 local time - 06:00 GMT

Saturday
Practice 12:00 local time - 03:00 GMT
Qualifying 15:00 local time - 06:00 GMT

Sunday
Race 14:00 local time - 05:00 GMT

[cmlean]

I was just looking at the results for the precious Japanese Grand Prix and we haven't been here since 2019.
This weekend, Max Verstappen will again have his chance to wrap up his second World Drivers Championship.
I do know he had a bit of a hiccup last weekend but all the ducks had to line up for it to occur.

What I'm looking forward to.
Ferrari to again turn up and make Red Bull earn the victory.
Lando Norris to again out-qualify and out-race Daniel Ricciardo. My thoughts on Ricciardo are that he has lost his fighting spirit due to the dominance over him by Lando Norris over the last couple of years.
Haas to again surprise in qualifying and possibly in the race.
Alfa Romeo to again find the form that they showed early in the season and what has eluded them in the latter half.

Most of all, a close race. Let's see what eventuates.

[cmlean]

FP1 Results

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Pos	Time		Driver		  Team
1	1:42.248	Fernando Alonso	  Alpine
2	1:42.563	Carlos Sainz	  Ferrari
3	1:42.634	Charles Leclerc	  Ferrari
4	1:43.022	Esteban Ocon	  Alpine
5	1:43.258	Kevin Magnussen	  Haas
6	1:43.362	Max Verstappen	  Red Bull Racing
7	1:43.761	Mick Schumacher	  Haas
8	1:43.889	Lando Norris	  McLaren
9	1:43.969	Valtteri Bottas	  Alfa Romeo
10	1:44.234	Sergio Perez	  Red Bull Racing
11	1:44.429	Zhou Guanyu	  Alfa Romeo
12	1:44.486	Daniel Ricciardo  McLaren
13	1:44.558	Lewis Hamilton	  Mercedes
14	1:44.570	Lance Stroll	    Aston Martin
15	1:44.791	Alexander Albon	  Williams
16	1:44.878	Pierre Gasly	  AlphaTauri
17	1:45.424	Nicholas Latifi	  Williams
18	1:46.103	George Russell	  Mercedes
19	1:46.192	Yuki Tsunoda	  AlphaTauri
20	1:48.090	Sebastian Vettel  Aston Martin

Mick Schumacher had a big off in turn 8 after the chequered flag for the end of the session.
The damage will require a new chassis however the driver walked away from the incident without injury.

[cmlean]

FP2 Results

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Pos	Time		Driver		  Team
1	1:41.935	George Russell	  Mercedes
2	1:42.170	Lewis Hamilton	  Mercedes
3	1:42.786	Max Verstappen	  Red Bull Racing
4	1:42.834	Sergio Perez	  Red Bull Racing
5	1:43.187	Kevin Magnussen	  Haas
6	1:43.204	Carlos Sainz	  Ferrari
7	1:43.533	Fernando Alonso	  Alpine
8	1:43.733	Valtteri Bottas	  Alfa Romeo
9	1:43.884	Esteban Ocon	  Alpine
10	1:44.525	Zhou Guanyu	  Alfa Romeo
11	1:44.709	Charles Leclerc	  Ferrari
12	1:44.962	Nicholas Latifi	  Williams
13	1:45.039	Alexander Albon	  Williams
14	1:45.257	Yuki Tsunoda	  AlphaTauri
15	1:45.261	Sebastian Vettel  Aston Martin
16	1:45.885	Lando Norris	  McLaren
17	1:46.030	Daniel Ricciardo  McLaren
18	1:46.776	Lance Stroll	  Aston Martin
19	1:47.109	Pierre Gasly	  AlphaTauri

FP2 was originally scheduled for dry tyre testing for Pirelli and the session time extended by a half hour. Due to the weather, the Pirelli program was abandoned and has been re-scheduled for Mexico. Another dry tyre test is also scheduled for the round in Austin.
Mick Schumacher took no part in the session due to his incident in FP1.

[cmlean]

FP3 Results

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Pos	Time		Driver		  Team
1	1:30.671	Max Verstappen	  Red Bull Racing
2	1:30.965	Carlos Sainz	  Ferrari
3	1:30.980	Charles Leclerc	  Ferrari
4	1:31.320	Fernando Alonso	  Alpine
5	1:31.514	Sergio Perez	  Red Bull Racing
6	1:31.530	George Russell	  Mercedes
7	1:31.589	Lewis Hamilton	  Mercedes
8	1:31.747	Lando Norris	  McLaren
9	1:31.750	Esteban Ocon	  Alpine
10	1:31.838	Lance Stroll	  Aston Martin
11	1:31.860	Daniel Ricciardo  McLaren
12	1:31.946	Alexander Albon	  Williams
13	1:31.971	Valtteri Bottas	  Alfa Romeo
14	1:32.222	Sebastian Vettel  Aston Martin
15	1:32.290	Kevin Magnussen	  Haas
16	1:32.366	Mick Schumacher	  Haas
17	1:32.377	Yuki Tsunoda	  AlphaTauri
18	1:32.385	Zhou Guanyu	  Alfa Romeo
19	1:32.868	Nicholas Latifi	  Williams
20	1:32.881	Pierre Gasly	  AlphaTauri

[cmlean]

Qualifying

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Pos	Time		Driver		  Team
1	1:29.304	Max Verstappen	  Red Bull Racing
2	1:29.314	Charles Leclerc	  Ferrari
3	1:29.361	Carlos Sainz	  Ferrari
4	1:29.709	Sergio Perez	  Red Bull Racing
5	1:30.165	Esteban Ocon	  Alpine
6	1:30.261	Lewis Hamilton	  Mercedes
7	1:30.322	Fernando Alonso	  Alpine
8	1:30.389	George Russell	  Mercedes
9	1:30.554	Sebastian Vettel  Aston Martin
10	1:31.003	Lando Norris	  McLaren
_________________________________________________
11	1:30.659	Daniel Ricciardo  McLaren
12	1:30.709	Valtteri Bottas	  Alfa Romeo
13	1:30.808	Yuki Tsunoda	  AlphaTauri
14	1:30.953	Zhou Guanyu	  Alfa Romeo
15	1:31.439	Mick Schumacher	  Haas
_________________________________________________
16	1:31.311	Alexander Albon	  Williams
17	1:31.322	Pierre Gasly	  AlphaTauri
18	1:31.352	Kevin Magnussen	  Haas
19	1:31.419	Lance Stroll	  Aston Martin
20	1:31.511	Nicholas Latifi	  Williams

Max Verstappen survived a late call up to the stewards for obstructing Lando Norris in Q3 and retained his pole position.
Nicholas Latifi carries a 5 place grid penalty into this event as a result of his collision with Zhou Guanyu in Singapore.

[cmlean]

Results

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Pos	Driver		  Team
1	Max Verstappen	  Red Bull Racing
2	Sergio Perez	  Red Bull Racing
3	Charles Leclerc	  Ferrari
4	Esteban Ocon	  Alpine
5	Lewis Hamilton	  Mercedes
6	Sebastian Vettel  Aston Martin
7	Fernando Alonso	  Alpine
8	George Russell	  Mercedes
9	Nicholas Latifi	  Williams
10	Lando Norris	  McLaren
11	Daniel Ricciardo  McLaren
12	Lance Stroll	  Aston Martin
13	Yuki Tsunoda	  AlphaTauri
14	Kevin Magnussen	  Haas
15	Valtteri Bottas	  Alfa Romeo
16	Zhou Guanyu	  Alfa Romeo
17	Mick Schumacher	  Haas
18	Pierre Gasly	  AlphaTauri
DNF	Carlos Sainz	  Ferrari
DNF	Alexander Albon	  Williams

Charles Leclerc received a 5 second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.
Pierre Gasly received a 20 second penalty for speeding under the red flag conditions.