2015 Japanese Grand Prix

 2015 Japanese Grand Prix

Racing data
14th of 19 races in the 2015 Formula 1 World Championship
Surname:	2015 Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix
Date:	September 27, 2015
Place:	Suzuka
Course:	Suzuka International Racing Course
Length:	307.471 km in 53 laps of 5.807 km
Pole position
Driver:	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes
Time:	1: 32.584 min
Fastest lap
Driver:	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes
Time:	1: 36.145 min (lap 33)
Podium
First:	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes
Second:	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes
Third:	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari

The Japanese Grand Prix in 2015 (officially 2015 Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix ) took place on 27 September at the Suzuka Circuit in Suzuka place and was the 14th race of the Formula 1 World Championship in 2015 .

report

backgrounds

After the Singapore Grand Prix , Lewis Hamilton led the drivers' standings by 41 points over Nico Rosberg and 49 points over Sebastian Vettel . In the constructors' championship, Mercedes led with 153 points ahead of Ferrari and with 265 points ahead of Williams-Mercedes .

At the Japanese Grand Prix, Pirelli provided the drivers with the tire compounds P Zero Hard (orange) and P Zero Medium (white), as well as Cinturato Intermediates (green) and Cinturato Full Wets (blue) for wet conditions .

As in the previous year, there was only one DRS zone on the start-finish straight , the measuring point was 50 meters in front of the Casio Triangle .

The drainage system has been improved in several places so that rainwater can drain off better. The S-Curves area , in which Jules Bianchi and Adrian Sutil had an accident the previous year, was also affected . In addition, the carriers for advertising banners were removed on both sides in the area from hairpin to spoon . All devices for attaching signs have been replaced here by ones made of lightweight material.

Pastor Maldonado (six), Max Verstappen (five), Marcus Ericsson , Romain Grosjean , Nico Hülkenberg , Sergio Pérez (four each), Vettel (three), Jenson Button , Hamilton and Daniil Kwjat (two each) went into the race weekend with penalty points.

With Vettel (four times), Fernando Alonso , Hamilton (twice each), Kimi Räikkönen and Jenson Button (once each), five former winners competed in this Grand Prix. Alonso and Hamilton each won the Japanese Grand Prix once when the race was held at Fuji Speedway in 2007 and 2008 .

Gerd Ennser (DEU), Takashi Mitarashi (JAP), Roger Peart (CAN) and Emanuele Pirro (ITA) acted as race commissioners .

training

Felipe Massa in wet free practice on Friday

Both free practice sessions on Friday took place in the rain. In the first training session, Carlos Sainz jr. fastest with a lap time of 1: 49.434 minutes, followed by Kwjat and Rosberg. Only twelve drivers scored a time. In the second free practice session, Kwjat took the lead in 1: 48.277 minutes from Rosberg and Hamilton. With the exception of Valtteri Bottas , all drivers achieved a time, whereby neither Manor driver managed a time below the 107 percent hurdle.

In the third free practice session, which took place under dry conditions, Hamilton was fastest with a lap time of 1: 33.995 minutes ahead of Rosberg and Daniel Ricciardo .

Qualifying

The qualifying consisted of three parts with a net running time of 45 minutes. In the first qualifying segment (Q1), the drivers had 18 minutes to qualify for the race. All drivers who achieved a time in the first section that was a maximum of 107 percent of the fastest lap time qualified for the Grand Prix. The best 15 drivers reached the next part. Hamilton was fastest. One minute before the end of the training session, Verstappen parked his vehicle at the exit of the hairpin on the track with a technical defect, which caused yellow flags on this section of the track. No further improvements were possible for the other drivers. Rossi therefore did not manage a lap faster than 107 percent of the fastest lap time and did not qualify for the race. In addition, Stevens, Button and the Sauber pilots were eliminated.

The second qualifying segment (Q2) lasted 15 minutes. Rosberg was the fastest. Verstappen, who could not set a lap time, Alonso, Maldonado, Sainz and Hulkenberg were eliminated.

The final section lasted twelve minutes, during which the first ten starting positions were assigned. Shortly before the end of qualifying, Kwjat went off the track, hit the track barrier and rolled over. Qualifying was therefore canceled and not restarted. With a time of 1: 32.584 minutes, Rosberg secured pole position ahead of Hamilton and Bottas. It was the second pole position of the season for Rosberg and the 13th for a Mercedes driver.

Hülkenberg received a starting place penalty of three places for causing a collision with Felipe Massa at the Singapore Grand Prix . Verstappen also received the same penalty, as the race stewards considered it proven that he could have parked the car in a safe place in Q1 despite the technical defect. Kwjat had to start from the pit lane because various repair work had to be carried out on his vehicle after the accident and this was not allowed according to the regulations of the Parc Fermé . The team also took the opportunity to change the entire drive unit and gearbox without penalty.

run

The race lasted 53 laps. Hamilton started better than Rosberg, both drove side by side into the first corners. Vettel passed Bottas before the first corner. At the exit of the First , Rosberg hit the grass on two wheels, falling back to fourth place behind Hamilton, Vettel and Bottas. Sainz collided with Pérez, who suffered a puncture and had to drive through the gravel bed. Massa and Ricciardo also collided, both suffered tire damage and had to pit. Hamilton led in front of Vettel, Bottas, Rosberg, Raikkonen, Grosjean, Maldonado, Hülkenberg, Sainz and Ericsson.

On the tenth lap, the first drivers came to the pits to change tires. Bottas pitted on lap twelve to prevent Rosberg from being able to pass an earlier pit stop. Vettel stopped a lap later and tried to defend himself against Bottas. Rosberg and Hamilton pitted a few laps later, but their positions remained unchanged. With the exception of Hamilton and Bottas, all drivers in the leading group switched to the harder tire compound.

On lap 18 Rosberg passed Bottas in front of the Casio Triangle and was now in third place. He was then able to pull away and shorten the gap on Vettel, while Raikkonen caught up on Bottas.

Hamilton won the race superior

On lap 29 Raikkonen pitted for the second tire change, one lap later Rosberg and Bottas too. Bottas fell behind Raikkonen. Vettel also lost a position to Rosberg with his pit stop on the following lap, who drove the fastest lap of the race to date with the fresh tires. After the second pit stops, Hamilton was in front of Rosberg, Vettel, Räikkönen, Bottas, Hülkenberg, Grosjean, Maldonado, Sainz and Verstappen.

Sainz complained on the team radio about brake problems, he had to let his much faster teammate Verstappen pass without a fight. Stevens spun in the 130R but was able to intercept the car and stay on the track. However, he lost a position to his teammate Rossi. With two laps to go, Nasr parked his car.

Hamilton won the race ahead of Rosberg and Vettel. It was the eighth win of the season for Hamilton, with 41 wins he drew level with Ayrton Senna . For Mercedes it was the eleventh win and the eighth one-two of the season. For Rosberg it was the eleventh and for Vettel the tenth podium finish of the season. The top 10 were completed by Raikkonen, Bottas, Hülkenberg, Grosjean, Maldonado, Verstappen and Sainz.

The first three positions in the drivers 'and constructors' championships remained unchanged.

The finish of the race in the first five places again corresponded to the later final placement of the drivers' world championship at the end of the season. Prior to this race in Formula 1 history, this was only the case in the 2011 Singapore Grand Prix .

Registration list

team	No.	driver	chassis	engine	tires
Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes F1 W06 Hybrid	Mercedes-Benz PU106B Hybrid	P
	06th	Nico Rosberg
Infiniti Red Bull Racing	03	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull RB11	Renault Energy F1 2015	P
	26th	Daniil Kvyat
Williams Martini Racing	19th	Felipe Massa	Williams FW37	Mercedes-Benz PU106B Hybrid	P
	77	Valtteri Bottas
Scuderia Ferrari	05	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari SF15-T	Ferrari 059/4	P
	07th	Kimi Raikkonen
McLaren Honda	14th	Fernando Alonso	McLaren MP4-30	Honda RA615H	P
	22nd	Jenson Button
Sahara Force India F1 Team	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India VJM08	Mercedes-Benz PU106B Hybrid	P
	11	Sergio Perez
Scuderia Toro Rosso	33	Max Verstappen	Toro Rosso STR10	Renault Energy F1 2015	P
	55	Carlos Sainz Jr.
Lotus F1 Team	08th	Romain Grosjean	Lotus E23 Hybrid	Mercedes-Benz PU106B Hybrid	P
	13	Pastor Maldonado
	30th	Jolyon Palmer
Manor Marussia F1 Team	28	Will Stevens	Marussia MR03	Ferrari 059/3	P
	53	Alexander Rossi
Sauber F1 Team	09	Marcus Ericsson	Clean C34	Ferrari 059/4	P
	12	Felipe Nasr

Remarks

1. ↑ ^{a b} The Lotus with the starting number 30 was used in the first free practice for Palmer. Grosjean then took over the vehicle with his number 8 for the rest of the race weekend.

Classifications

Qualifying

Item	driver	constructor	Q1	Q2	Q3	begin
01	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1: 33.015	1: 32.632	1: 32.584	01
02	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1: 32.844	1: 32.789	1: 32.660	02
03	Valtteri Bottas	Williams-Mercedes	1: 34.326	1: 33.416	1: 33.024	03
04th	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	1: 34.431	1: 33.844	1: 33.245	04th
05	Felipe Massa	Williams-Mercedes	1: 34.744	1: 33.377	1: 33.337	05
06th	Kimi Raikkonen	Ferrari	1: 34.171	1: 33.361	1: 33.347	06th
07th	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull-Renault	1: 34.399	1: 34.153	1: 33.497	07th
08th	Romain Grosjean	Lotus Mercedes	1: 34.398	1: 34.278	1: 33.967	08th
09	Sergio Perez	Force India-Mercedes	1: 35.001	1: 34.174	no time	09
10	Daniil Kvyat	Red Bull-Renault	1: 34.646	1: 34,201	no time	box
11	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	1: 35.328	1: 34.390	-	13
12	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Toro Rosso-Renault	1: 34.873	1: 34.453	-	10
13	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus Mercedes	1: 34.796	1: 34.497	-	11
14th	Fernando Alonso	McLaren Honda	1: 35.467	1: 34.785	-	12
15th	Max Verstappen	Toro Rosso-Renault	1: 34.522	no time	-	17th
16	Marcus Ericsson	Clean Ferrari	1: 35.673	-	-	14th
17th	Felipe Nasr	Clean Ferrari	1: 35.760	-	-	15th
18th	Jenson Button	McLaren Honda	1: 35.847	-	-	16
19th	Will Stevens	Marussia Ferrari	1: 38.783	-	-	18th
107 percent time : 1: 39.343 min (based on Q1 best time of 1: 32.844 min)
20th	Alexander Rossi	Marussia Ferrari	1: 47.114	-	-	19th

Remarks

1. ↑ Kwjat had to start from the pit lane because, contrary to the parc fermé rules, repair work was carried out on his car after an accident.
2. ↑ Hülkenberg was moved three starting positions back to cause a collision.
3. ↑ Verstappen was moved three starting positions back because he parked his vehicle on the track with a technical defect, but the race stewards considered it proven that he could have parked it in a safe place.
4. ↑ Rossi was allowed to start the race from last place on the grid because he was fast enough in free practice.

run

Item	driver	constructor	Round	time	begin	Fastest lap
01	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	53	1: 28: 06,508	02	1: 36.145 (33.)
02	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	53	+ 1.886	01	1: 37.147 (31st)
03	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	53	+ 20,850	04th	1: 37.906 (32nd)
04th	Kimi Raikkonen	Ferrari	53	+ 33.768	06th	1: 38.035 (32nd)
05	Valtteri Bottas	Williams-Mercedes	53	+ 36.746	03	1: 38.241 (41.)
06th	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	53	+ 55.559	13	1: 38.331 (43.)
07th	Romain Grosjean	Lotus Mercedes	53	+1: 12.298	08th	1: 38.167 (35.)
08th	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus Mercedes	53	+1: 13.575	11	1: 38,136 (39.)
09	Max Verstappen	Toro Rosso-Renault	53	+1: 35.315	17th	1: 38.237 (32nd)
10	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Toro Rosso-Renault	52	+ 1 lap	10	1: 38.686 (16.)
11	Fernando Alonso	McLaren Honda	52	+ 1 lap	12	1: 39.614 (45th)
12	Sergio Perez	Force India-Mercedes	52	+ 1 lap	09	1: 38.591 (50.)
13	Daniil Kvyat	Red Bull-Renault	52	+ 1 lap	box	1: 38.366 (36th)
14th	Marcus Ericsson	Clean Ferrari	52	+ 1 lap	14th	1: 39.343 (28th)
15th	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull-Renault	52	+ 1 lap	07th	1: 38.898 (32nd)
16	Jenson Button	McLaren Honda	52	+ 1 lap	16	1: 40.121 (31st)
17th	Felipe Massa	Williams-Mercedes	51	+ 2 rounds	05	1: 38.595 (51st)
18th	Alexander Rossi	Marussia Ferrari	51	+ 2 rounds	19th	1: 41.467 (35.)
19th	Will Stevens	Marussia Ferrari	50	+ 3 rounds	18th	1: 41,452 (44th)
20th	Felipe Nasr	Clean Ferrari	49	DNF	15th	1: 40.088 (39.)

World Cup stands after the race

The first ten of the race got 25, 18, 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2 and 1 point (s) respectively.

Driver ranking

Item driver constructor Points 01  Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 277 02  Nico Rosberg Mercedes 229 03  Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 218 04th  Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 119 05  Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes 111 06th  Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 97 07th  Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull-Renault 73 08th  Daniil Kvyat Red Bull-Renault 66 09  Romain Grosjean Lotus Mercedes 44 10  Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 39 11  Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 38

Item driver constructor Points 12  Max Verstappen Toro Rosso-Renault 32 13  Felipe Nasr Clean Ferrari 17th 14th  Pastor Maldonado Lotus Mercedes 16 15th  Carlos Sainz Jr. Toro Rosso-Renault 12 16  Fernando Alonso McLaren Honda 11 17th  Marcus Ericsson Clean Ferrari 9 18th  Jenson Button McLaren Honda 6th 19th  Roberto Merhi Marussia Ferrari 0 20th  Will Stevens Marussia Ferrari 0 21st  Alexander Rossi Marussia Ferrari 0 -  Kevin Magnussen McLaren Honda 0

Constructors' championship

Item constructor Points 1  Mercedes 506 2  Ferrari 337 3  Williams-Mercedes 208 4th  Red Bull-Renault 139 5  Force India-Mercedes 77

Item constructor Points 06th  Lotus Mercedes 60 07th  Toro Rosso-Renault 44 08th  Clean Ferrari 26th 09  McLaren Honda 17th 10  Marussia Ferrari 0

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Sven Haidinger: Pirelli reacts to the previous year: Softer tires in Sochi. Motorsport-Total.com, September 9, 2015, accessed September 9, 2015 . 
2. ↑ ^{a b} Sven Haidinger: Better drainage system: Suzuka reacts to Bianchi accident. Motorsport-Total.com, September 22, 2015, accessed on September 23, 2015 . 
3. ↑ Sven Haidinger: Suzuka: Pirro for the third time in 2015 race commissioner. Motorsport-Total.com, September 22, 2015, accessed on September 23, 2015 . 
4. ↑ Japanese GP in Suzuka / 1st free practice. Motorsport-Total.com, September 25, 2015, accessed September 25, 2015 . 
5. ↑ Japanese GP in Suzuka / 2nd free practice. Motorsport-Total.com, September 25, 2015, accessed September 25, 2015 . 
6. ↑ Japanese GP in Suzuka / 3rd free practice. Motorsport-Total.com, September 26, 2015, accessed September 26, 2015 . 
7. ↑ Ryk Fechner, Dieter Rencken: Toro Rosso: Verstappen moved back to wrong parking. Motorsport-Total.com, September 26, 2015, accessed September 26, 2015 .