2018 Japanese Grand Prix Weekend Information

?? THE 2018 HONDA JAPANESE GRAND PRIX

Round 17. 5th – 7th October.

993rd F1 Grand Prix | 44th Japanese Grand Prix | 30th Grand Prix at Suzuka

2017 POLESITTER: LEWIS HAMILTON | 2017 WINNER: LEWIS HAMILTON


  WEEKEND SCHEDULE

Friday 5th October
Free Practice 1 (10am Local Time/ 2am UK Time)
Free Practice 2 (2pm Local Time/ 6am UK Time)

Saturday 6th October
Free Practice 3 (12pm Local Time/ 4am UK Time)
Qualifying (3pm Local Time/ 7am UK Time)

Sunday 7th October
The 2018 Japanese Grand Prix (2:10pm Local Time/ 6:10am UK Time)


Stats and Facts

  • Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel each have four wins here. Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso are the only other Suzuka winners on the grid, each having won once.
  • Mercedes have won the Japanese Grand Prix every year since 2014. 
  • Vettel has the most poles of the current drivers at this track, having setting the fastest Saturday time on four occasions. Lewis Hamilton is the only other 2018 driver to have taken a pole here. 

Find more track facts in the Ultimate Guide to Suzuka!


?? Local Heroes

The fanatical Japanese F1 fans have been out in force supporting the Honda-powered McLaren team in recent seasons. Now that Toro Rosso are F1’s sole team with Honda power, you can expect support for their drivers. Pierre Gasly competed in the Japanese Super Formula series last year. 

Fernando Alonso is likely to have support too, thanks to his current participation in the World Endurance Championship with Japanese manufacturer Toyota. 


  Press Conference Schedules

The Drivers’ Press Conference will take place on Thursday 4th October.  The drivers appearing in front of the media will be:

Esteban Ocon
Lance Stroll
Stoffel Vandoorne
Sebastian Vettel

The Team Principals’ Press Conference will take place shortly before Free Practice 2. Appearing in front of the media will be:

Christian Horner
Masashi Yamamoto
Franz Tost
Frederic Vasseur

  Driver Steward

Each weekend a former Formula One driver, or a driver from another prominent series of motorsport, joins the stewards to help judge any incidents from a drivers’ perspective. The Driver Steward for the 2018 Japanese Grand Prix is Tom Kristensen.


  Weather Forecast

The weather forecast for the week ahead at the Suzuka circuit currently looks like this:

[wpc-weather id=”4449″/]

  Fastest Ever Lap

1:27.319

The fastest ever lap of the circuit was set by Lewis Hamilton in 2017. Will it be beaten over the 2018 Japanese Grand Prix weekend?


  Tyre Choices

Pirelli have announced that Medium, Soft and Supersoft tyres will be available for the Japanese Grand Prix.

Each driver’s choice of tyre can be found below:

 


2017 Fastest Lap in each Session

The table below shows the fastest lap set in each session of the 2017 Japanese Grand Prix weekend:

Free Practice 1 1:29.166 (Sebastian Vettel)
Free Practice 2 1:48.719 (Lewis Hamilton)
Free Practice 3 1:29.055 (Valtteri Bottas)
Qualifying 1:27.319 (Lewis Hamilton)
Grand Prix 1:33.144 Valtteri Bottas)
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