As the 2017 Formula One world championship edges closer to its conclusion, the title race hangs delicately in the balance with the Japanese Grand Prix set to stage yet another exciting race. Join The Roar for live coverage from 3:30pm (AEDT).
34-points is what separates Lewis Hamilton from Sebastian Vettel, with the onus on the Ferrari driver to strike back and recoup the points that he has haemorrhaged in the past four races.
Their battleground will be 5.8km technical Suzuka circuit, which on paper appears as a ‘figure of eight’ – but, is very challenging with its variety of high-speed corners.
53 laps will be contested across the iconic Japanese track, with weather always a variable in the outcome.
The front row of the grid will be occupied by the two title rivals, with Hamilton claiming his first ever pole position at the Suzuka circuit.
Vettel had qualified third, but is elevated one position with Valtteri Bottas set to drop five places on the grid, due to a penalty for changing his gearbox.
The pair have had success before in Japan, with four wins to Vettel and three to Hamilton. The Briton however, has only won two races at Suzuka with that third having come at the Fuji circuit in his maiden campaign.
Mercedes AMG has won the last three grand prix in Japan, whilst Ferrari have had a drought since 2004.
The race is set to see a potential three-way battle for the win, with Red Bull having had a strong qualifying. Factoring in the Bottas penalty, Daniel Ricciardo will start third and Malaysian Grand Prix winner Max Verstappen will be fourth.
Two former world champions and Japanese Grand Prix winners in Kimi Räikkönen and Fernando Alonso will unfortunately have to yield their top ten berths, with grid penalties being applied to the Ferrari and the McLaren.
Räikkönen from sixth will lose five positions, whilst Alonso at Honda’s home race will embarrassingly take a 35-place grid penalty to drop to the rear of the grid, after getting into the top ten.
Japan has always been a very pivotal race in the past for the championship and for 2017 it looks to be no different.
Can Mercedes AMG slash any remaining hope that Ferrari have of winning the driver’s title, or can Vettel weave some of his Suzuka magic to claim a fifth victory?
Join us on The Roar from 3:30pm (AEDT) for a live blog of the Japanese Grand Prix.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lewis Hamilton might as well be declared the champion elect for 2017, with that 59-point lead over Sebastian Vettel in the championship. Will the title be sewn up at the Circuit of the Americas in a fortnight's time? Thanks again for tuning in to The Roar's live blog coverage of the Japanese Grand Prix and we shall return in the early hours of the morning in two week's time for the United States Grand Prix. Ciao!
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
-------- DRIVER'S -------- 306 - Lewis Hamilton 247 - Sebastian Vettel 234 - Valtteri Bottas 192 - Daniel Ricciardo 148 - Kimi Räikkönen 111 - Max Verstappen 82 -- Sergio Perez 65 -- Esteban Ocon 48 -- Carlos Sainz 34 -- Nico Hulkenberg 34 -- Felipe Massa 32 -- Lance Stroll 28 -- Romain Grosjean 15 -- Kevin Magnussen 11 -- Stoffel Vandoorne 10 -- Fernando Alonso 8 --- Jolyon Palmer 5 --- Pascal Wehrlein 4 --- Daniil Kvyat 0 --- Marcus Ericsson 0 --- Antonio Giovinazzi 0 --- Jenson Button
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Roar Guru
----- CONSTRUCTOR'S ----- 540 - Mercedes AMG 395 - Scuderia Ferrari 303 - Red Bull Racing 147 - Force India Mercedes 66 -- Williams Mercedes 52 -- Scuderia Toro Rosso 43 -- Haas Ferrari 42 -- Renault Sport 23 -- McLaren Honda 5 --- Sauber Ferrari
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Roar Guru
RACE REPORT Lewis Hamilton extends his grasp on the 2017 Formula One world championship, having won the Japanese Grand Prix, after his rivals at Ferrari faltered once again. On the weekend Ferrari were supposed to deliver a result to resurrect their championship hopes, Sebastian Vettel’s aspirations went out the door with the failed spark plug on his SF70-H. The German survived only a handful of laps, being monstered by the opposition, before Ferrari elected to retire from the race – leaving Hamilton to waltz away to an eighth win of the season. A regulation one-stop race put Red Bull in the hunt, with Max Verstappen chasing down the race leader in the dying stages of the race, having had the field condensed after a late Virtual Safety Car to recover Lance Stroll’s stricken Williams. In the end, the lapped cars of Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa who were squabbling for tenth, got in the way of a thrilling showdown between Hamilton and Verstappen. Also surviving a late charge, was Daniel Ricciardo who claimed yet another podium finish in 2017 – edging out Valtteri Bottas, who was on the quicker supersoft tyres. Having started in tenth with a gearbox penalty, Kimi Räikkönen as the sole Ferrari fought back to claim fifth, well ahead of the Force Indias led by Esteban Ocon. A double points finish was also claimed by Haas for only the second time in 2017, with Kevin Magnussen leading Romain Grosjean to eighth and ninth. A bold pass on a napping Felipe Massa, allowed the Dane through on the Williams and eventually Grosjean through too. It was a disappointing outing for McLaren at their engine supplier Honda’s home race, as that partnership draws to a conclusion in a matter of races. Alonso missed out on points in tenth, whilst Stoffel Vandoorne after starting from seventh lost ground at the start and finish fourteenth. Similarly, Carlos Sainz will depart Toro Rosso for Renault in a bad way, following an early retirement from the race. Sainz replaces Jolyon Palmer at the French team from the next race in Austin, whilst the Briton finds himself out of an F1 drive. There were bizarre scenes in the Renault camp, as Nico Hulkenberg was forced out of the race with his DRS having become stuck open. The team were unable to repair it during an unscheduled pit-stop, resulting in the German’s retirement. Hamilton’s win puts him 59-points ahead of Vettel in the standings and with a mathematical chance of sewing up the championship at the United States Grand Prix.
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Roar Guru
STANDBY FOR UPDATED POINTS AND RACE REPORT
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Roar Guru
PODIUM INTERVIEWS - Hosted by Takuma Sato HAMILTON - "The team did an incredible job and Max drove an amazing race." "The Red Bulls seemed to be rapid in race trim." VERSTAPPEN - "Suzuka is great to me and the pace was really promising today." "It was really hard to pass." RICCIARDO - "My first podium here!" "It was good fun."
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Roar Guru
RESULTS FROM THE 53-LAP JAPANESE GRAND PRIX 1 L. Hamilton 2 M. Verstappen 3 D. Ricciardo 4 V. Bottas 5 K. Räikkönen 6 E. Ocon 7 S. Perez 8 K. Magnussen 9 R. Grosjean 10 F. Massa 11 F. Alonso 12 J. Palmer 13 P. Gasly 14 S. Vandoorne 15 P. Wehrlein RET L. Stroll RET N. Hulkenberg RET M. Ericsson RET S. Vettel RET C. Sainz
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Roar Guru
LEWIS HAMILTON WINS THE JAPANESE GRAND PRIX The Mercedes AMG just pips MAX VERSTAPPEN to the chequered flag, with the Red Bull finishing second. DANIEL RICCIARDO is on the podium once again, finishing third ahead of Valtteri Bottas.
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Roar Guru
Lap 53/53: Hamilton gains ground, putting Massa in between himself and Verstappen. Alonso loses out in his quest to take tenth. But it still could all happen!
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Roar Guru
Lap 53/53: FINAL LAP
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Roar Guru
Lap 52/53: Alonso moves out of the way of Hamilton, though is in the way of Verstappen. Hamilton struggling with his rears.
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Roar Guru
Lap 52/53: 1.5 between Hamilton and Verstappen. 1.2 between Ricciardo and Bottas. All to play for still!
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Roar Guru
Lap 51/53: 3 LAPS TO GO Alonso in hot pursuit of Massa then to try and salvage a championship point in McLaren's final race in Japan with Honda as their engine supplier. Bottas now within 1.1 seconds of Ricciardo and is flying!
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Roar Guru
Lap 50/53: GREEN FLAG
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Lap 49/53: VIRTUAL SAFETY CAR 5 LAPS TO GO
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Roar Guru
Lap 48/53: VIRTUAL SAFETY CAR Looks like that the Williams of Stroll hit a piece of debris on the track and got a puncture on his front-right tyre.
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Roar Guru
Lap 48/53: VIRTUAL SAFETY CAR DEPLOYED
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Roar Guru
Lap 47/53: Hair raising moment there with Stroll jumping across the gravel! He's beached the Williams just before the Essess.
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Roar Guru
Lap 46/53: HAM VER RIC BOT RÄI OCO PER MAG GRO MAS ALO PAL GAS STR VAN WEH the order as we near the end of the race. 3.5 seconds now between Bottas and Ricciardo, as the Finn looks to trouble for a podium position.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 45/53: Gap down to 4.3 between Bottas and Ricciardo.