Japanese Grand Prix 2016 Preview: Start Time, TV Info, Weather, Schedule, Odds
The jam-packed Formula One calendar is not giving us any time to breathe. A week after Daniel Ricciardo's first win of the season and Lewis Hamiltonย maybe (or maybe not) accused someone of sabotaging his engines in Malaysia, the F1 circus is off to Suzuka for the Japanese Grand Prix.
Following Hamilton's spectacular engine failure while leading at Sepang, his road to the championship is tough, but not impossible. In fact, barring any more reliability problems, he is still the master of his fateโwin the next four grands prix, and he will enter the final race of the season at least five points ahead of Nico Rosberg, no matter what his team-mate does.
That is a tough order, but not out of the realm of possibility. Hamilton already owns a four-race winning streak this year, but a more comparable scenario is from 2014:ย Hamilton left the Belgian Grand Prix 29 points behind Rosberg with seven races to go. He won the next five, as well as the final race in Abu Dhabi to collect his second title.
The anger Hamilton was feeling after his engine caught fire in Malaysia was similar to his emotion after Rosberg clipped him back in Belgium in 2014. He channeled that anger into a dominant season-ending run. Will he be able to do the same this year, starting in Japan?
Meanwhile, Ricciardo dedicated his Sepang victory to Jules Bianchi, who suffered a fatal accident two years ago at Suzuka. Clearly, that loss is still weighing heavily on the drivers' minds, so expect further tributes this weekend as we revisit the scene of the tragic accident.
And speaking of Ricciardo, he has now beaten his much-heralded young team-mate, Max Verstappen, at six straight races. Given Red Bull's strong form in the second half of the season, the Australian looks secure in third place in the drivers' standings, now 44 points up on Kimi Raikkonen.
The last two years in Japan, Rosberg has qualified on pole, but Hamilton has won the race. A victory for Hamilton this weekend would give him four Japanese Grand Prix wins, tying him with Sebastian Vettel for second all time, behind Michael Schumacher's six.
Keep reading for a full race-weekend preview, includingย TV times, championship standings, a circuit map and guide, tyre andย DRSย information, weather forecast, oddsย and session times.
Current Standings
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While the order at the top remains unchanged, aside from the increased gap between the Merc drivers, Fernando Alonso is now one point ahead of Felipe Massa for 10th in the drivers' championship. That's rightโa McLaren-Honda ahead of a Mercedes-powered Williams. Massa has scored just four points in the last 10 races (his team-mate, Valtteri Bottas, has 51 in that time).
After putting himself out of the race in Malaysia with a clumsy manoeuvre on the opening lap, Sebastian Vettel has fallen back behind his Ferrari team-mate, Kimi Raikkonen, for fourth place.ย
Here are the top 10 drivers heading into the Japanese Grand Prix:
| Position ย ย ย ย ย ย | Driver ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย | Points ย ย ย ย ย |
| 1. | Nico Rosberg | 288 |
| 2. | Lewis Hamilton | 265 |
| 3. | Daniel Ricciardo | 204 |
| 4. | Kimi Raikkonen | 160 |
| 5. | Sebastian Vettel | 153 |
| 6. | Max Verstappen | 147 |
| 7. | Valtteri Bottas | 80 |
| 8. | Sergio Perez | 74 |
| 9. | Nico Hulkenberg | 50 |
| 10. | Fernando Alonso | 42 |
With Hamilton's retirement at Sepang, Mercedes failed to clinch the constructors' title, but they will have another shot on Sunday at Suzuka. This time, unless Red Bull outscores them by 23 points or more, Mercedes will lock up their third straight constructors' crown.
Here is the table for the constructors' championship:
| Position | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Mercedes | 553 |
| 2. | Red Bull | 359 |
| 3. | Ferrari | 313 |
| 4. | Force India | 124 |
| 5. | Williams | 121 |
| 6. | McLaren | 62 |
| 7. | Toro Rosso | 47 |
| 8. | Haas | 28 |
| 9. | Renault | 8 |
| 10. | Manor | 1 |
| 11. | Sauber | 0 |
Suzuka Circuit
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The 5.807-kilometre, figure-eight Suzuka circuit is one of the drivers' favourites. It's high-speed corners, often with minimal run-off areas, provide a significant challenge to both man and machine.
"The Suzuka circuit is incredibleโalmost in a class of its own on the calendar," said Jenson Button, per McLaren's race preview. "It's as close to a 'perfect' track as you can get in terms of having all of the different elements you would want as a driver.ย It's fast, technical, difficult, rewarding and really fun to drive, so it's up there among the best."
Check out the F1 circuit guide video to see a lap from a driver's perspective.
Turns 1 and 2
With the track falling away at the end of the start/finish straight, Turns 1 and 2 are almost one long right-hand corner. The drivers enter Turn 1 at approximately 270 km/h, braking to about 155 km/h for the apex of Turn 2 before accelerating away toward the "S" curves.
Turns 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7
This is the most spectacular section of the track, a left-right-left-right-left combination that puts the cars on their limits.
"The track has several great corners: The best section is the Esses, which are pretty cool and so quickโit's three or four corners at once," said Nico Hulkenberg,ย per Force India's race preview. "They're all hooked up, so if you make a mistake in one, you can just forget about the rest, you've already lost so much time."
Turn 3 is taken at approximately 240 km/h, with speeds dropping to 170 km/h by Turn 6. Turn 7, the Dunlop Curve, is a long, sweeping, sixth-gear left-hander. It was here that Bianchi suffered his tragic accident.
Turns 8 and 9
The Denger Curve is a quick, 240-km/h right-hander, flowing almost immediately into a slow, 90-degree corner taken at just 150 km/h.
From there, the track crosses under itself as the drivers head toward the hairpin.
Turns 10, 11 and 12
Turn 10 is just a small, right-hand kink on the approach to the hairpin, Turn 11, which is taken at just 95 km/h.
Accelerating out of the hairpin, the drivers enter the long, arcing right-hand Turn 12, reaching speeds of more than 300 km/h before braking for the next corner.
Turns 13, 14 and 15
Turns 13 and 14 form the spoon curve, a double left-hander. The first corner is taken at about 220 km/h and by the second part, the cars are down to 160 km/h.
After that, a long straight awaits, with the track crossing back over itself before the famous 130R corner (Turn 15). Taken at speeds of more than 300 km/h, it is one of the fastest corners in F1 and often mentioned along with the likes of Eau Rouge as one of the best corners in the sport.
Turns 16, 17 and 18
The drivers brake from more than 300 km/m to approximately 95 km/h for the chicane at the end of the lap. Riding the kerbs through the right-left corners, they emerge onto a sweeping right-hander that leads onto the start/finish straight.
The pit entrance is on the inside of Turn 18, with the exit coming at the end of the straight, just before Turn 1.
The circuit map is from Wikimedia Commons. Circuit data from the official FIA website.
Japanese Grand Prix Tyres and DRS Zones
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As in Malaysia, Pirelli is providing its hard-, medium- and soft-compound tyres to the teams for the Japanese Grand Prix.
The long, fast corners and high-downforce setups generally favoured by the teams at Suzuka lead to a lot of tyre degradation. For example, Pirelli's race preview notedย the famous 130R corner, near the end of the lap, "Contains the highest continuous g-force loading of the year."ย
The most extreme tyre selections for the weekend come from Vettel, who has nine soft sets and just one medium, as well as the Manor and Red Bull drivers. Those teams went in the opposite direction, choosing just six sets of the soft tyres.
DRS Zone
There is just one DRS zone at Suzuka. The detection point is just before the final chicane, and the activation point is on the start/finish straight. The single DRS zone and dearth of heavy braking points make overtaking difficult in Japan.
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Japanese Grand Prix Weather
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Rain is a common feature at the Japanese Grand Prix, and it appears this weekend will be no different. At the time of publication, UBIMET, the FIA's official weather service, predicted a significant chance of rain during the Saturday and Sundayย on-track sessions.
AccuWeather pegged the chances of rain on Sunday at 58 per cent, while expecting a high of 23 degrees Celsius. That matches the predicted high on Friday but is slightly cooler than Saturday's high of 26 degrees.
In addition to the likely wet weather, the drivers must also contend with strong winds at Suzuka.
"The other thing to remember is the crosswinds because it can often by very windy there," explained Sergio Perez in Force India's race preview. "One lap you can have the perfect balance and the next it can be thrown off by a gust of wind."
Japanese Grand Prix Odds
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With Hamilton looking to avenge his Sepang retirement, he is the oddsmakers' favourite this weekend, followed, as usual, by his Merc team-mate.
Interestingly, the two McLaren drivers have shorter odds than the Force Indias. Home advantage does not exist for drivers in F1, but maybe it does for engine suppliers?
The best odds available for the top 10 favourites in Japan are:
| Driver | Odds |
|---|---|
| Lewis Hamilton | 5-4 |
| Nico Rosberg | 2-1 |
| Daniel Ricciardo | 13-2 |
| Max Verstappen | 8-1 |
| Sebastan Vettel | 25-1 |
| Kimi Raikkonen | 33-1 |
| Fernando Alonso | 150-1 |
| Jenson Button | 200-1 |
| Nico Hulkenberg | 250-1 |
| Sergio Perez | 250-1 |
Selected Others
Sauber are running out of time to score the points they need to overhaul Manor for 10th place in the constructors' standings. In Japan, Marcus Ericsson is 22-1 to finish in the top 10, while Felipe Nasr is 25-1, the worst odds of any driver.
If, for some reason, you are one of those people who actually believe Mercedes would sabotage their own driver, you should jump all over Hamilton at 6-1 to not finish the race.
Just four of the last 10 pole-sitters have won in Japan (the last time it happened was 2012). The odds are 5-2 the winner comes from second on the grid or 5-1 from third or fourth place.
All odds are taken fromย OddsCheckerย and correct at the time of publication.
Japanese Grand Prix Session and TV Times
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Here are the times for the three free practice sessions, qualifying and the race:
| Session | Day | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Practice 1 | Friday | 10 a.m. |
| Practice 2 | Friday | 2 p.m. |
| Practice 3 | Saturday | 12 p.m. |
| Qualifying | Saturday | 3 p.m. |
| Race | Sunday | 2 p.m. |
The above times are in local Suzuka time (JST, UTC+9). You can convert the times to your local time zone using the helpful tool onย the official F1 website.
TV Times
In the United Kingdom,ย Sky Sports F1ย will have live coverage of all the sessions. The programming start times are as follows (all times BST):
| Session | Day | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Practice 1 | Friday | 1:45 a.m. |
| Practice 2 | Friday | 5:45 a.m. |
| Practice 3 | Saturday | 3:45 a.m. |
| Qualifying | Saturday | 6 a.m. |
| Race | Sunday | 4:30 a.m. |
Channel 4 will have free-to-air highlights of qualifying and the race.
In the United States,ย NBCย has live coverage of all the sessions on NBCSN and the NBC Sports app, with programming start times as followsย (all times EDT):
| Session | Day | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Practice 1 | Thursday | 9 p.m. (NBC Sports app) |
| Practice 2 | Friday | 1 a.m. (NBCSN) |
| Practice 3 | Friday | 11 p.m. (NBC Sports app) |
| Qualifying | Saturday | 2 a.m. (NBCSN) |
| Race | Sunday | 12 a.m. (NBCSN) |
Enjoy the race and the rest of the weekend!
Matthew Walthert is an F1 columnist for Bleacher Report UK. He has also written forย VICE,ย FourFourTwoย and theย Globe and Mail. Follow him on Twitter:
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