JAPANESE GP – Qualifying postponed until Sunday

News & Analysis

Qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix has postponed until Sunday because of the expected impact of Typhoon Hagibis. The Typhoon is expected to move in on Friday night bring extreme winds and rainfall.

Ahead of the weekend the drivers called for a “clear” decision and were keen for it to be made on Friday, well in advance of the typhoon’s expected impact.

Ahead of practice at Suzuka on Friday morning, the FIA and F1 released a statement supporting a decision from the circuit and the Japanese Automobile Federation to “cancel all activities scheduled to take place on Saturday”.

Event timetable

Local

UK time

Sunday

Qualifying 10:00–11:00 02:00–03:00
Race 14:10 06:10

The typhoon is expected to the most violent to hit the region in recent years, is expected to pass through the area swiftly, with the forecast currently dry for Sunday.

However, Suzuka is expected to be hit by high winds and heavy rain throughout Saturday. The Category Three typhoon will hit the capital overnight on Friday.

F1 stressed that the new timetable was still subject to change and they “will continue to monitor the meteorological situation and issue any updates as necessary”.

If qualifying still isn’t able to take place on Sunday morning, the grid for the race will be dictated by the results from Practice Two.

Qualifying has had to be moved to a Sunday twice before in Japan due to typhoons, in 2004 and 2010, while the 2014 race was also hit by a typhoon and an accident led to the death of driver Jules Bianchi.

The last qualifying to be moved was in Texas 2015, that was because of a Hurricane.

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