Japanese F1 Grand Prix 2015: Start Time, Drivers, TV Schedule and More
The end of the 2015 Formula One season seemed set to be a procession after Lewis Hamilton’s win at Monza. But the Mercedes man ran into some trouble in Singapore last time out, and as we go into the Japanese Grand Prix, he will be looking nervously over his shoulder.
Hamilton’s team-mate, Nico Rosberg, is now just 41 points behind the Brit after Hamilton's retirement at Marina Bay, while Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel thrust himself into the picture with a surprise win last time out—he's 49 points back.
The Suzuka circuit is one of the most enthralling on the Formula One calendar—especially the iconic S-Curve. Here’s a look at the drivers set to compete, all the key viewing details and how this grand prix is set to pan out.
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| Practice 1 | Friday, September 25 | 2 a.m |
| Practice 2 | Friday, September 25 | 6 a.m. |
| Practice 3 | Saturday, September 26 | 4 a.m. |
| Qualifying | Saturday, September 26 | 7 a.m. |
| Race | Sunday, September 27 | 6 a.m. |
| Mercedes | Lewis Hamilton | Nico Rosberg |
| Red Bull | Daniel Ricciardo | Daniil Kvyat |
| Ferrari | Sebastian Vettel | Kimi Raikkonen |
| Lotus | Pastor Maldonado | Romain Grosjean |
| McLaren | Fernando Alonso | Jenson Button |
| Force India | Nico Hulkenberg | Sergio Perez |
| Sauber | Marcus Ericsson | Felipe Nasr |
| Toro Rosso | Max Verstappen | Carlos Sainz Jr. |
| Williams | Valtteri Bottas | Felipe Massa |
| Marussia | Will Stevens | Alexander Rossi |
All the action can be watched on Sky Sports (UK) and NBC Sports (U.S.).
Mercedes Under Pressure at Suzuka
It was a miserable weekend for Hamilton at Marina Bay last time out. The reigning world champion had an aura of invincibility about him heading into the race, but Mercedes really struggled for pace on race day around the contorted Singapore circuit. To cap off a grim grand prix, the Brit was forced to retire for the first time in 20 races.
Bouncing back in Japan will be important, especially with Lewis’ rivals handed a glimmer of hope of forcing their way back into the fight for the world title. But the Mercedes man, usually so bullish, has admitted ahead of this race that he doesn’t have huge confidence the team will turn things around, per Paul Weaver of the Guardian:
"I don’t have any confidence. I don’t have any information to give me that confidence. I’m hoping it’s a one-off but it was a strange weekend to say the least. Our car has not got slower. I told my engineers I would like some information about what they think it was but there’s not a lot of time before the next race.
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Hamilton did make a key step towards the world title with a win at Suzuka last year, but Rosberg has shown he has pace around the Suzuka track, qualifying in pole position 12 months ago.
The German will be feeling bittersweet after the Singapore race. He will have been disappointed not to fully capitalise on his team-mate's woes, finishing in fourth, but he probably would have taken closing the gap before the race. Still, he needs to pull out a couple of special performances if the world title is going to be heading his way.
Tancredi Palmeri of beIN Sports thinks that if Rosberg can reel in Hamilton, it’d be one of the most thrilling feats in the history of the sport:
Vettel cannot be discounted, though. The Ferrari man romped to a brilliant victory in Singapore, with the Scuderia flexing their muscles around a technical circuit. Japan’s sweeping corners will pose an entirely different kind of challenge, but with Mercedes apparently scratching their heads leading up to this one, there could be another chance for the chasing pack to make up ground.
As we can see here, courtesy of the Formula One Twitter feed, Vettel comes into his own on this stage, with four wins in Japan in his career to date:
It’s going to be intriguing to see whether the performance from Mercedes in Singapore was an anomaly or a sign of things to come. But the manner in which they dropped off of the pace from Ferrari so sharply must represent a major concern for both Hamilton and Rosberg.
Still, this is a circuit both of the Silver Arrow drivers have proved strong at in recent years, and they’ll both do enough to get on the podium. But some renewed pace at a circuit he adores will see Vettel take the chequered flag, giving himself a chance of capturing a fifth world title in the final embers of the season.
Prediction: 1. Vettel, 2. Rosberg, 3. Hamilton.
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