Vettel: Maybe the weather will help…
Speaking of the four-time world champion, under normal circumstances it would be difficult for him to achieve a top result in his last Suzuka race this weekend. “It’s going to be difficult,” he confirms himself on ‘Sky’.
“I don’t know what the weather is doing, maybe it’ll help us a bit and wash us up a bit when it rains,” he hopes, explaining: “We’ll try everything and I’ll definitely enjoy the time.”
“If it works with points, then it is [es] good,” he explains. But how high is the chance that it will rain tomorrow and especially on Sunday? You can find out in our big weather forecast for the entire weekend!
90 minutes FT2
As a reminder, FT2 is about to last 90 minutes. The 30-minute extension was actually there so that Pirelli could test the new slicks for 2023. But of course that won’t happen because it’s raining and the track is wet.
So that makes the extra half hour completely unnecessary. But we hear that 90 minutes should be driven anyway. Some things in Formula 1 cannot be explained rationally…
live stream
By the way, if you missed yesterday’s media day, Kevin Scheuren and Deputy Editor-in-Chief Stefan Ehlen can update you on the following topics here:
– FIA statement on the budget ceiling and its evaluation
– Red Bull: “Honda never really left”
– Verstappen remains critical of the team
– World Cup situation: Verstappen doesn’t care where it happens
– Alpine vs. McLaren: Defects not yet resolved
– Vettel: No plans for after 2022, but a race in Suzuka…
– Steiner scolds the race management
– What if the tire test falls through?
– The double hag in Suzuka & Karaoke in Japan
– Questions from channel members from live chat
Of course, the two will be in touch with you again today with a new issue. It starts at 12:30 p.m. on the Formel1.de YouTube channel!
Vettel: F1 comeback only conceivable for Suzuka!
The media day at the 2022 Japanese Grand Prix: Why Vettel is already thinking about a Formula 1 comeback and what Verstappen says about his “match ball”. More Formula 1 videos
Speaking of budget caps…
McLaren boss Zak Brown has now also commented on the subject and explains: “I don’t know any more than everyone else.” He also does not know why the FIA announcement was postponed to Monday.
One can only speculate “that a team or two” exceeded the budget limit and thus caused the delay. In this case, he calls for “reasonable penalties” for the racing teams.
“If you read the rules technically [oder] breaks sportily, then you get penalties. And it should be like that financially,” he clarifies, explaining that it would be an “unfair advantage” if a team spent too much money.
Red Bull distracted by budget cap?
At least that’s what Aston Martin team boss Mike Krack can imagine. His team is also suspected of exceeding the cost cap last year. “It’s rumours,” he clarifies on ‘Sky’.
“We were just as surprised as everyone else by these rumours,” he emphasizes and explains: “Of course it was annoying that something like this happened in Singapore on a Friday, because then mistakes happen quickly and you’re easily distracted.”
However, that was “less with us than with Red Bull”. Krack remembers: “With Max there was one or the other issue with not enough petrol [im Qualifying]. These are all issues that affect people.”
He also doesn’t understand why these things got public at all, “because it’s about highly confidential stories,” he recalls. So the matter remains exciting – at least once until Monday…
Updates in Suzuka
As every Friday, here is the list of all the upgrades this weekend for you. Only five teams have something this time, so the list is quite manageable.
The most exciting thing is certainly the new Ferrari underbody, which we talked about yesterday. Mercedes and Red Bull didn’t bring any new parts.
special helmet
We have already seen some special helmets this weekend. Of course, Sebastian Vettel has come up with something again. He thanks the Japanese helmet company Arai with his Suzuka design.
Vettel has been riding Arai helmets since the age of eight in 1995 and has based his design on the box his helmets always come in. Once again a great idea with lots of lovely details!
Schumacher crash!
You don’t see that often either: Schumacher crashed after the end of FT1 in turn 8! He reports aquaplaning. The team now has some work to do until FT2, because that was a slightly heavier crash…
FT1: Closing time!
The session is over, as expected, there weren’t any faster times at the end. A few cars were on the track again, but we didn’t see any improvements.
So the best time goes to Alonso ahead of Sainz, Leclerc and Ocon. All pretty much worthless, of course. Let’s see how it looks afterwards in FT2. It’s due in two hours at 8:00.
First, as usual, the FT1 overview:
report
result
FT1: final phase
The rain has picked up again. Before that, Alonso moved up to P1 with a 1:42.248. Russell is also driving now – or has driven, because because it’s raining harder again, all 20 drivers are currently in the pits.
Previously, we also saw several riders off the track. No major incidents, but the risk now seems too great for the teams. Run the last ten minutes.
Call up all current information in the session live ticker!
FT1: Latifi next to the track
Except for Russell, all drivers have now been on the track at least once. After the engine change, the car is still being worked on. Meanwhile, Latifi lands in the hairpin off the track, but is able to continue.
The first pilots are now also switching to intermediates. Verstappen took the lead on the same tires with a 1:44.059.
Call up all current information in the session live ticker!
FT1: First times
More and more drivers are now daring to take to the track – at least for a lap. The first time comes from Schumacher with a 1:50.343, meanwhile Leclerc leads with a 1:48.104 in front of Sainz.
For comparison: in 2019, when Suzuka was driven for the last time, Vettel secured pole in 1:27.064 – at that time still for Ferrari. 13 of the 20 drivers have been on the track so far.
Call up all current information in the session live ticker!
FT1: Cars on track!
That went faster than expected. Magnussen and local hero Tsunoda are on the way. The local Japanese fans in particular are happy! Both sneak around the track on full rain tires.
Meanwhile, ‘Sky’ reports that there was an oil leak from the Russell engine in the morning. But don’t worry: it was an old engine and it only got a new one in Singapore.
So no punishment for him. Meanwhile, Tsunoda drives back to the pits. A short pleasure.
Call up all current information in the session live ticker!
FT1: rain
The session is released, but initially nobody is driving. It’s raining in Suzuka. In theory, the teams should drive, but nobody wants to at the moment. The risk is probably a bit too big in the wet.
Especially since the conditions are only supposed to be so bad today. So you can’t learn much for the rest of the weekend. Let’s see when the first driver will hit the track here.
Call up all current information in the session live ticker!
FT1: Open the session ticker now!
Even in the early morning, nothing changes in our schedule: here at this point you will find the most important information, pictures and voices during FT1. As always, you can get the full coverage in our session ticker with Stefan Ehlen.
It’s best to just let both tickers run in parallel. And if you want to know how to watch the live stream of Formula 1 in Japan, you can find out here!
Stand up!
Hello and welcome to a new edition of our Formula 1 live ticker. The clocks are ticking a little differently this weekend and we’re already starting our ticker, because the first training session in Suzuka is scheduled to take place in just a few minutes!
Ruben Zimmerman accompanies you at this point again through the day. If you have any questions, suggestions or complaints, you can use our contact form. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube, and if you have any questions, you can also use our Twitter hashtag #FragMST. Here we go!
Here you can read our live ticker from Thursday again!