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2018 Japan Thoughts

THE BIG PICTURE: Déjà vu all over again.

TRACK: A lot of overtaking for a track you can't overtake...

EVENT: The fans make this event.

QUALIFYING: Intermittent rain showers makes it wildly entertaining, Vettel and Ferrari screw it up as usual, Toro Rosso excites the home Honda contingent, and McLaren sucks more than Williams.

RACE: The shakeup of the grid and early laps allowed all the overtaking during the race.

START: Mercedes immediately claims this as their race, Vettel immediately gets by the Toro Rosso duo and then pulls a daring, gutsy pass on Grosjean, Magnussen suffers from his own aggression, and Ricciardo starts his march.

HAMILTON: Picture perfect again. The only "blemish" is Lewis lost out on the fastest lap on the final tour.

BOTTAS: Played his role again...

MERCEDES: They just continue to grind Ferrari into dust.

VETTEL: You got to be kidding us. We continue to be more astounded that Sebastian ever won a world championship, never mind four of them. Take away his speed and what race qualities does he have lately?

RAIKKONEN: First lap damage spoiled any hope.

FERRARI: A butt ugly new livery with a "bogus" sponsor seems apropos for the way they are puttering out this season.

VERSTAPPEN: We believe Max did not do it on purpose. But ultimately, the driver is responsible for his car. And the fact is, he did not return to the track safely, regardless of what Raikkonen did.

RICCIARDO: Have you ever seen Daniel as mad as he was after the engine failed in qualifying?

PEREZ: Aggressive race.

GROSJEAN: Back to scoring points.

HAAS: Once again, throwing points away.

SAINZ: Grabbed that last point.

TORO ROSSO: Despite missing out on points, their speed is very encouraging for Honda ... and Red Bull next year.

ALONSO: Did Fernando ever envision his F1 career winding down by fighting for bottom feeder positions with the likes of Lance Stroll?

STROLL: And did Lance ever envision he would one day take it to Alonso?

HULKENBERG: Big crash in practice.

FIA: And once again, inconsistency rules.

WORD OF THE WEEKEND: Errors.

STAT OF THE WEEKEND: 8 -- The number of seconds in the difference between the race length of time for the Japanese GP and last week's Russian GP. Oh, and it's also the number of points Hamilton needs to outscore Vettel to clinch the championship.

HISTORICAL STAT OF THE WEEKEND: Hamilton and Mercedes repeated a feat that Michael Schumacher and Ferrari did -- win four out of five Japanese Grands Prix with their teammates winning the other. Hamilton has now won in 2014-15 and 2017-18 with Nico Rosberg taking 2016. Schumacher won in 2000-02 and 2004 with Rubens Barrichello taking 2003. They are the only manufacturers to win the race five years in a row.

QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND: Max Verstappen can't help but put a dig on Ferrari after qualifying on whether he would stay out of the way of the championship battle, "Is it still a battle? I'm not sure?" And then he promptly got in the way of the championship battle...

QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND RUNNERUP: Nico Rosberg said this at Singapore, but it bears repeating after yet another error filled weekend by Ferrari and Vettel, "You cannot beat Lewis Hamilton to a Championship by making so many mistakes. That's a fact."

SCHEDULE: Hamilton and Mercedes have always done well at COTA. It doesn't bode well for Vettel and Ferrari.

Copyright © 2018 by Deep Throttle. All Rights Reserved.



RACE RESULTS
  Driver Laps
1. Hamilton 53
2. Bottas 53
3. Verstappen 53
4. Ricciardo 53
5. Raikkonen 53
6. Vettel 53
7. Perez 53
8. Grosjean 53
9. Ocon 53
10. Sainz 52
11. Gasly(R) 52
12. Ericsson 52
13. Hartley(R) 52
14. Alonso 52
15. Vandoorne 52
16. Sirotkin(R) 52
17. Stroll 52
NC Leclerc(R) 38
NC Hulkenberg 37
NC Magnussen 8

Time of Race
1:27:17.062

Margin of Victory
12.919 sec.

Safety Car
1 for 4 laps

Virtual Safety Car
1 for 3 laps

Lead Changes
None

Lap Leaders
Lewis Hamilton

Fastest Race Lap
Sebastian Vettel

Pole Position
Lewis Hamilton

CURRENT STANDINGS
  Driver Pts.
1. Hamilton 331
2. Vettel 264
3. Bottas 207
4. Raikkonen 196
5. Verstappen 173
6. Ricciardo 146
7. Magnussen 53
  Hulkenberg 53
  Perez 53
10. Alonso 50
11. Ocon 49
12. Sainz 39
13. Grosjean 31
14. Gasly(R) 28
15. Leclerc(R) 21
16. Vandoorne 8
17. Ericsson 6
  Stroll 6
19. Hartley(R) 2
20. Sirotkin(R) 1

  Team Pts.
1. Mercedes 538
2. Ferrari 460
3. Red Bull 319
4. Renault 92
5. Haas 84
6. McLaren 58
7. Racing Point 43
8. Toro Rosso 30
9. Sauber 27
10. Williams 7
EX Force India (59)
 
 

2024 Thoughts
Bahrain Saudi Arabia Australia Japan
China Miami Emilia Romagna Monaco
Canada Spain Austria Great Britain
Hungary Belgium Holland Italy
Azerbaijan Singapore United States Mexico City
Sao Paulo Las Vegas Qatar Abu Dhabi

2023 Thoughts
Bahrain Saudi Arabia Australia Azerbaijan
Miami Emilia Romagna Monaco Spain
Canada Austria Great Britain Hungary
Belgium Holland Italy Singapore
Japan Qatar United States Mexico City
Sao Paulo Las Vegas Abu Dhabi

2022 Thoughts
Bahrain Saudi Arabia Australia Emilia Romagna
Miami Spain Monaco Azerbaijan
Canada Great Britain Austria France
Hungary Belgium Holland Italy
Singapore Japan United States
Mexico City Sao Paulo Abu Dhabi

2021 Thoughts
Bahrain Emilia Romagna Portugal Spain Monaco
Azerbaijan France Steiermark Austria Great Britain
Hungary Belgium Holland Italy
Russia Turkey United States Mexico City
Sao Paulo Qatar Saudi Arabia Abu Dhabi

2020 Thoughts
Austria Steiermark Hungary Great Britain Anniversary
Spain Belgium Italy Tuscany
Russia Eifel Portugal Emilia Romagna
Turkey Bahrain Sakhir Abu Dhabi

2019 Thoughts
Australia Bahrain China Azerbaijan Spain
Monaco Canada France Austria
Great Britain Germany Hungary Belgium
Italy Singapore Russia Japan
Mexico United States Brazil Abu Dhabi

2018 Thoughts
Australia Bahrain China Azerbaijan Spain
Monaco Canada France Austria
Great Britain Germany Hungary Belgium
Italy Singapore Russia Japan
United States Mexico Brazil Abu Dhabi

2017 Thoughts
Australia China Bahrain Russia
Spain Monaco Canada Azerbaijan
Austria Great Britain Hungary Belgium
Italy Singapore Malaysia Japan
United States Mexico Brazil Abu Dhabi

2016 Thoughts
Australia Bahrain China Russia Spain
Monaco Canada Europe Austria
Great Britain Hungary Germany Belgium
Italy Singapore Malaysia Japan
United States Mexico Brazil Abu Dhabi

2015 Thoughts
Australia Malaysia China Bahrain
Spain Monaco Canada Austria
Great Britain Hungary Belgium Italy
Singapore Japan Russia United States
Mexico Brazil Abu Dhabi

2014 Thoughts
Australia Malaysia Bahrain China
Spain Monaco Canada Austria
Great Britain Germany Hungary Belgium
Italy Singapore Japan Russia
United States Brazil Abu Dhabi

2013 Thoughts
Australia Malaysia China Bahrain
Spain Monaco Canada Great Britain
Germany Hungary Belgium Italy
Singapore South Korea Japan India
Abu Dhabi United States Brazil

2012 Thoughts
Australia Malaysia China Bahrain
Spain Monaco Canada Europe
Great Britain Germany Hungary Belgium
Italy Singapore Japan South Korea
India Abu Dhabi United States Brazil

2011 Thoughts
Australia Malaysia China Turkey
Spain Monaco Canada Europe
Great Britain Germany Hungary Belgium
Italy Singapore Japan South Korea
India Abu Dhabi Brazil

2010 Thoughts
Bahrain Australia Malaysia China
Spain Monaco Turkey Canada
Europe Great Britain Germany Hungary
Belgium Italy Singapore Japan
South Korea Brazil Abu Dhabi

2009 Thoughts
Australia Malaysia China Bahrain
Spain Monaco Turkey Great Britain
Germany Hungary Europe
Belgium Italy Singapore
Japan Brazil Abu Dhabi


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