2014 Japanese Grand Prix

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Japan  2014 Japanese Grand Prix
Race details
Race 15 of 19 in the 2014 Formula One season
Suzuka Circuit
Suzuka Circuit
Date 5 October 2014
Official name 2014 Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix[1]
Location Suzuka Circuit
Suzuka, Japan
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 5.807 km (3.608 mi)
Distance 44 laps, 255.508 km (158.752 mi)
Scheduled Distance 53 laps, 307.771 km (191.224 mi)
Weather Rainy periods with occasional dry spells. Maximum temperatures reaching 22 degrees during the day.
Attendance 142,000
Pole position
Driver Mercedes
Time 1:32.506
Fastest lap
Driver United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Mercedes
Time 1:51.600 on lap 39
Podium
First Mercedes
Second Mercedes
Third Red Bull Racing-Renault
Lap leaders

The 2014 Japanese Grand Prix (formally known as the 2014 Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix)[1] was a Formula One motor race that was held on 5 October 2014 at the Suzuka Circuit in Suzuka, Japan.[2] The race was the fifteenth round of the 2014 season, and marked the forty-first running of the Japanese Grand Prix.

Nico Rosberg started the race from pole position,[3] but after an attempt was made to start the race behind the safety car due to torrential rain, a red flag was shown on lap 2 as the weather conditions were deemed to be unsuitable for racing. The race was resumed 20 minutes later with Rosberg leading until he was overtaken by his team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

The race was red flagged for a second time on lap 46 following a serious accident three laps prior involving Jules Bianchi, in which he sustained severe head injuries from which he would later die. Race direction chose not to resume the race for a second time and the official positions were taken from the running order at the end of lap 44 with Lewis Hamilton being awarded victory. The race marked only the third time that two red flags have been shown in a single Formula One race after the 1987 Austrian Grand Prix and the 1990 Belgian Grand Prix.

The event resulted in the first driver fatality since the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, as Bianchi died of his injuries on 17 July 2015 after spending nine months in a coma. It is the most recent Formula One Grand Prix in which a competitor has been fatally injured.[4][5]

Report

Background

File:Hamilton crash qualifying.jpg
Lewis Hamilton crashed during free practice 3

Typhoon Phanfone, classified as a category one storm, was forecasted to make landfall over the eastern Japanese coast on the Sunday of the Grand Prix, accompanied by heavy rain and winds of up to 240 km/h. Although the storm was predicted to miss Suzuka, the rain from the northern edge of the storm was expected to drench the circuit with steadily increasing heavy rain.[6]

Race

Heavy rain meant that the race was initially started behind the safety car, but the race was red flagged on lap 2, when it became clear that the track was far too wet for racing. Unconventionally, instead of requiring all participants to stop on the grid, they were permitted to line-up in the pitlane (which was reportedly done to cater for the possibility of the event being cancelled altogether and allowing easier access by the each team to their cars). Nearly 20 minutes later, the rain had eased up and the race was restarted, once again behind the safety car. Fernando Alonso had to retire from the race due to electrical issues with his car shortly after the restart.

The safety car pulled in and the race was green flagged on lap 9. Jenson Button benefited greatly by immediately following the safety car into the pits for intermediate tyres, moving up to third position after the remaining drivers followed suit shortly after. Lewis Hamilton, having started the race behind his team-mate Nico Rosberg, managed to overtake him for the race lead at the first turn on lap 29, with Rosberg struggling with oversteer.

Red Bull had elected to run a set-up more suitable for wet conditions in this race, sacrificing qualifying performance.[7] This gamble paid off for them in the race, with Sebastian Vettel finishing third and Daniel Ricciardo fourth, from ninth and sixth on the grid respectively.

Jules Bianchi's crash

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The race was ended under the safety car, with the red flag shown on lap 46 and the final race results accordingly taken from the running order at the end of lap 44.[8] This premature ending was due to Jules Bianchi, on lap 43, colliding at high speed with a marshal's crane tractor that was tending to the removal of Adrian Sutil's Sauber car, which had spun and crashed on lap 42 in the run-off area on the outside of the Dunlop Curve (turn 7) of the circuit. Bianchi was unconscious after the crash. He was taken by road ambulance to the Mie University hospital under police escort as the FIA stated that the medical helicopter was unable to fly due to the precarious weather conditions.[9][10][11][12]

Bianchi underwent an operation to reduce severe bruising to his head that same day.[13] The FIA subsequently released a statement that CT scans revealed Bianchi suffered a "severe head injury" in the crash, and he would be transferred to intensive care following surgery.[14] Bianchi's family subsequently reported that he had a diffuse axonal injury, which is a common traumatic brain injury[15] in vehicle accidents involving high deceleration. Bianchi succumbed to his injuries on 17 July 2015,[4] nine months after the accident occurred.[5]

Post-race

With Kimi Räikkönen finishing 12th and Fernando Alonso retiring, this marked the first Grand Prix that Scuderia Ferrari failed to score a point since the 2010 British Grand Prix (81 races), as well as the first time since the 2009 Singapore Grand Prix (94 races) that a Ferrari-powered car failed to score.

Out of respect for the then seriously injured Jules Bianchi, no champagne was sprayed by Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel on the podium.

Driver reactions

After the race Adrian Sutil told reporters: "I had aquaplaning in Turn Eight. The rain was increasing and the tyres were going down, the light was going down. It was hard to see." Sutil added: "our tires were closer to the end, so the resistance to aquaplaning was not so good any more. I saw quite a few cars shaking around even when the safety car came out."[16][17] Kimi Raikkonen stated: "Behind the safety car we drive 100kph and you could aquaplane, so even if you slow down you might get into trouble. If there's too much water you can go off, simple."[18]

Felipe Massa stated: "I was already screaming on the radio five laps before the safety car that there was too much water on the track, but they took a bit too long and it was dangerous. So we saw that there were some crashes at the end."[16]

Classification

Qualifying

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Q1 Q2 Q3 Grid
1 6 Germany Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:33.671 1:32.950 1:32.506 1
2 44 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:33.611 1:32.982 1:32.703 2
3 77 Finland Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes 1:34.301 1:33.443 1:33.128 3
4 19 Brazil Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 1:34.483 1:33.551 1:33.527 4
5 14 Spain Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:34.497 1:33.675 1:33.740 5
6 3 Australia Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing-Renault 1:35.593 1:34.466 1:34.075 6
7 20 Denmark Kevin Magnussen McLaren-Mercedes 1:34.930 1:34.229 1:34.242 7
8 22 United Kingdom Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:35.150 1:34.648 1:34.317 8
9 1 Germany Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing-Renault 1:35.517 1:34.784 1:34.432 9
10 7 Finland Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:34.984 1:34.771 1:34.548 10
11 25 France Jean-Éric Vergne Toro Rosso-Renault 1:35.155 1:34.984 201
12 11 Mexico Sergio Pérez Force India-Mercedes 1:35.439 1:35.089 11
13 26 Russia Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso-Renault 1:35.210 1:35.092 12
14 27 Germany Nico Hülkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1:35.000 1:35.099 13
15 99 Germany Adrian Sutil Sauber-Ferrari 1:35.736 1:35.364 14
16 21 Mexico Esteban Gutiérrez Sauber-Ferrari 1:35.308 1:35.681 15
17 13 Venezuela Pastor Maldonado Lotus-Renault 1:35.917 221
18 8 France Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1:35.984 16
19 9 Sweden Marcus Ericsson Caterham-Renault 1:36.813 17
20 17 France Jules Bianchi Marussia-Ferrari 1:36.943 18
21 10 Japan Kamui Kobayashi Caterham-Renault 1:37.015 19
22 4 United Kingdom Max Chilton Marussia-Ferrari 1:37.481 21
107% time: 1:40.163
Source:[3]

Notes:

Race

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 44 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 44 1:51:43.021 2 25
2 6 Germany Nico Rosberg Mercedes 44 +9.180 1 18
3 1 Germany Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing-Renault 44 +29.122 9 15
4 3 Australia Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing-Renault 44 +38.818 6 12
5 22 United Kingdom Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 44 +1:07.550 8 10
6 77 Finland Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes 44 +1:53.773 3 8
7 19 Brazil Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 44 +1:55.126 4 6
8 27 Germany Nico Hülkenberg Force India-Mercedes 44 +1:55.948 13 4
9 25 France Jean-Éric Vergne Toro Rosso-Renault 44 +2:07.638 20 2
10 11 Mexico Sergio Pérez Force India-Mercedes 43 +1 Lap 11 1
11 26 Russia Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso-Renault 43 +1 Lap 12
12 7 Finland Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 43 +1 Lap 10
13 21 Mexico Esteban Gutiérrez Sauber-Ferrari 43 +1 Lap 15
14 20 Denmark Kevin Magnussen McLaren-Mercedes 43 +1 Lap 7
15 8 France Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 43 +1 Lap 16
161 13 Venezuela Pastor Maldonado Lotus-Renault 43 +1 Lap 22
17 9 Sweden Marcus Ericsson Caterham-Renault 43 +1 Lap 17
18 4 United Kingdom Max Chilton Marussia-Ferrari 43 +1 Lap 21
19 10 Japan Kamui Kobayashi Caterham-Renault 43 +1 Lap 19
20 17 France Jules Bianchi Marussia-Ferrari 41 Fatal accident2 18
21 99 Germany Adrian Sutil Sauber-Ferrari 40 Accident 14
Ret 14 Spain Fernando Alonso Ferrari 2 Electronics 5
Source:[21]

Notes:

Championship standings after the race

  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References

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  12. Jules Bianchi taken to hospital unconscious following crash. Smith, Luke. NBC Sports Network, 5 October 2014.
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  14. "F1 driver Jules Bianchi injured after crash in Japan – latest updates", The Guardian, 5 October 2014
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External links


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2014 Singapore Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
2014 season
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2014 Russian Grand Prix
Previous race:
2013 Japanese Grand Prix
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2015 Japanese Grand Prix