The organizers of the Formula 1 observed the situation on Thursday, now they have made a decision: For fear of the imminent effects of typhoon Hagibis the qualification for the Grand Prix of Japan takes place only on Sunday. All activities planned for Saturday on the Suzuka International Racing Course have been canceled, announced the organizers on Friday morning.
"The motorsports world federation Fia and the formula 1 support the decision in the interest of safety for the spectators, competitors and everyone else on the Suzuka Circuit", it said in the message.
This means that the racers have only two practice sessions on Friday to match their cars to the 17th race of the season. The third free training is canceled without replacement.
The opening training certain Mercedes. Valtteri Bottas secured the fastest time in 1: 28.731 minutes on Friday in the first unit. The Finn had 0.076 seconds ahead of his team-mate and world champion Lewis Hamilton in Suzuka. Scuderia star Sebastian Vettel finished in third place, 0.989 seconds behind Bottas. Charles Leclerc finished fourth in the second Ferrari.
BREAKING: Saturday's track action at Suzuka has been canceled due to Typhoon Hagabis.
Qualifying wants to take place on Sunday at 10:00 local time.
The race wants to go ahead at 14:10, Sunday as planned #JapaneseGP # F1 https://t.co/A22Br0wfBs
The qualification will take place on Sunday at 10.00 o'clock local time, if the weather conditions should have calmed down until then. The race is scheduled to start at 14.10 clock (7.10 clock German time, live ticker: SPIEGEL, TV: RTL, Sky). "It increases the pressure on Friday a bit because you have to do as much work as possible," Racing Point pilot Sergio Pérez had said about possibly relocating the starting grid, even before it was decided.
Mercedes can already win the constructors' championship at the 17th of 21 races of the season. Hamilton and Bottas would have to get at least 14 points more on Sunday than Vettel and Leclerc in their Ferraris. In this case, the Silver Arrows would secure the team World Cup for the sixth consecutive time.
Memories of 2004
In Suzuka already in 2004 and 2010 the qualifications had been postponed. In 2004, Typhoon Ma on the usual course messed up, six years later prevented heavy rainfall the normal procedure. Last time was in Formula 1 at the United States race in Austin, Texas in 2015, the starting place hunt because of bad weather on the Sunday of racing has been postponed.
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In Japan, hurricane Hagibis could hit land over the weekend with wind speeds of up to 270 kilometers per hour - in the Kinki region in the west of the country, where the city of Osaka is located as well. Suzuka in Mie Prefecture is located about 100 kilometers away from the airline. According to the National Weather Agency, the typhoon will bring heavy storms and rainfall and could also cause flooding.
