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2019 Japan Thoughts

THE BIG PICTURE: At the venues which do not get good attendance (Bahrin, Abu Dhabi), why not just have a one day event? Maybe a little practice on Saturday, and then everything packed into Sunday. Heck, just put everything on Sunday -- practice, qualifying, night race.

EVENT: Remember when there was talk of a Miami race? And it was mentioned it would be held in the Fall? And everyone went ballistic because it's hurricane season? Well, Japan, the country with the third most typhoons, has always held their race during typhoon season. And everyone seems to forget that ... until a typhoon hits.

TRACK: This is a more difficult track to pass on than it originally appears. Yet, there were some spectacular moves during the race.

QUALIFYING: Ferrari comes out of nowhere, Vettel keeps the German streak of taking every pole for a Sunday qualifying session, Red Bull teammates are dead even, Renault is a complete failure, as Ricciardo stunningly fails in Q1.

RACE: Lots of strategy action. Lots of on track action.

START: Bottas blows by everyone, Vettel nearly jumps the start, Leclerc is no better, then does a hip check, and Verstappen gets caught on the dreaded outside.

BOTTAS: Faster than Hamilton in the faux qualifying session. Faster in the actual qualifying session. Faster off the start. Faster in the race. No doubt, Valtteri deserved this victory.

HAMILTON: Lewis may love to drive Suzuka, but he admits it's not his best track, performance wise.

MERCEDES: Six titles in a row. If it wasn't for the great season start, it would have been much more of a struggle.

VETTEL: Done before he started.

LECLERC: Quite frankly, Charles should have been disqualified for him and Ferrari ignoring and lying about coming in, driving an obviously unsafe car.

FERRARI: Found another way to lose a race. This time, the drivers did it at the start.

ALBON: With Verstappen out early, Alexander filled in nicely finishing just off the podium.

VERSTAPPEN: Yes, Max was wronged. But it's hard to feel sorry for him after all he has done to other drivers.

HONDA: Terribly disappointing in their home race.

SAINZ: Grabbed another haul of points for McLaren.

MCLAREN: Pulling away from the best of the rest.

RICCIARDO: Daniel has had an inconsistent season. Some of his making. Some not. He started 16th after a wretched qualifying and finished sixth after a marvelous race. Like we said, inconsistent.

GASLY: Pierre has been outperforming Kvyat lately. Very interesting...

PEREZ: Sergio crashes on the last lap. But it isn't the last lap. Well, it is, but it isn't. So, he winds up ninth. Despite crashing on the last lap which isn't.

HAAS: Sigh...

FIA 1: Sometimes, technology is not better. Just have a human count the freaking laps. Then, have a human wave the checkered flag. Stop with all this nonsense of light boards, automation, and ending the race a lap early. One of these days, it's going to bite you in the ass.

FIA 2: Earlier in the season, Raikkonen moves before the start, stops, and because of that has a horrible start. He gets penalized anyway. Vettel moves before the start, stops, and because of that has a horrible start. He does not get penalized. Consistency. We love it...

FIA 3: First they say they will not investigate the Leclerc-Verstappen incident. Then, they say they are. Then, they decide to worry about it after the race. Consistency. We love it...

WORD OF THE WEEKEND: Typhoon.

STAT OF THE WEEKEND: 2nd -- The row Bottas started from. The first time at Suzuka that row has ever won a grand prix.

HISTORICAL STAT OF THE WEEKEND: Alexander Albon equaled the best F1 finish for a Thai driver. Prince Birabongse Bhanudej Bhanubandh, aka, Prince Bira, finished fourth in the 1954 French GP driving a Maserati after qualifying sixth. However, in 1949, Bira finished second in the French GP and third in the Italian GP, but that was before the World Championship era.

QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND: Daniel Ricciardo on what he was going to do with his time off, "Sake bombs on Friday evening and a sleep in on Saturday. I do not even like sake!"

QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND RUNNERUP: Under the pot-calling-the-kettle-black category, Max Verstappen calls Charles Leclerc, "Irresponsible."

SCHEDULE: Off to North America. Will Ferrari find two more unique ways to throw away a race win?

Copyright © 2019 by Deep Throttle. All Rights Reserved.



RACE RESULTS
  Driver Laps
1. Bottas 52
2. Vettel 52
3. Hamilton 52
4. Albon(R) 52
5. Sainz 52
6. Ricciardo 51
7. Leclerc 51
8. Gasly 51
9. Perez 51
10. Hulkenberg 51
11. Stroll 51
12. Kvyat 51
13. Norris(R) 51
14. Raikkonen 51
15. Grosjean 51
16. Giovinazzi(R) 51
17. Magnussen 51
18. Russell(R) 50
19. Kubica 50
NC Verstappen 14

Time of Race
1:21:46.755

Margin of Victory
13.343 sec.

Safety Car
None

Lead Changes
5 among 2 drivers

Lap Leaders
Valtteri Bottas, Lewis Hamilton

Fastest Race Lap
Lewis Hamilton

Pole Position
Sebastian Vettel

CURRENT STANDINGS
  Driver Pts.
1. Hamilton 338
2. Bottas 274
3. Leclerc 221
4. Verstappen 212
  Vettel 212
6. Sainz 76
7. Gasly 73
8. Albon(R) 64
9. Ricciardo 42
10. Hulkenberg 35
  Perez 35
  Norris(R) 35
13. Kvyat 33
14. Raikkonen 31
15. Magnussen 20
16. Stroll 19
17. Grosjean 8
18. Giovinazzi(R) 4
19. Kubica 1

  Team Pts.
1. Mercedes 612
2. Ferrari 433
3. Red Bull 323
4. McLaren 111
5. Renault 77
6. Toro Rosso 59
7. Racing Point 54
8. Alfa Romeo 35
9. Haas 28
10. Williams 1
 
 

2024 Thoughts
Bahrain Saudi Arabia Australia Japan
China Miami Emilia Romagna Monaco
Canada Spain Austria Great Britain
Hungary Belgium Holland Italy
Azerbaijan Singapore United States Mexico City
Sao Paulo Las Vegas Qatar Abu Dhabi

2023 Thoughts
Bahrain Saudi Arabia Australia Azerbaijan
Miami Emilia Romagna Monaco Spain
Canada Austria Great Britain Hungary
Belgium Holland Italy Singapore
Japan Qatar United States Mexico City
Sao Paulo Las Vegas Abu Dhabi

2022 Thoughts
Bahrain Saudi Arabia Australia Emilia Romagna
Miami Spain Monaco Azerbaijan
Canada Great Britain Austria France
Hungary Belgium Holland Italy
Singapore Japan United States
Mexico City Sao Paulo Abu Dhabi

2021 Thoughts
Bahrain Emilia Romagna Portugal Spain Monaco
Azerbaijan France Steiermark Austria Great Britain
Hungary Belgium Holland Italy
Russia Turkey United States Mexico City
Sao Paulo Qatar Saudi Arabia Abu Dhabi

2020 Thoughts
Austria Steiermark Hungary Great Britain Anniversary
Spain Belgium Italy Tuscany
Russia Eifel Portugal Emilia Romagna
Turkey Bahrain Sakhir Abu Dhabi

2019 Thoughts
Australia Bahrain China Azerbaijan Spain
Monaco Canada France Austria
Great Britain Germany Hungary Belgium
Italy Singapore Russia Japan
Mexico United States Brazil Abu Dhabi

2018 Thoughts
Australia Bahrain China Azerbaijan Spain
Monaco Canada France Austria
Great Britain Germany Hungary Belgium
Italy Singapore Russia Japan
United States Mexico Brazil Abu Dhabi

2017 Thoughts
Australia China Bahrain Russia
Spain Monaco Canada Azerbaijan
Austria Great Britain Hungary Belgium
Italy Singapore Malaysia Japan
United States Mexico Brazil Abu Dhabi

2016 Thoughts
Australia Bahrain China Russia Spain
Monaco Canada Europe Austria
Great Britain Hungary Germany Belgium
Italy Singapore Malaysia Japan
United States Mexico Brazil Abu Dhabi

2015 Thoughts
Australia Malaysia China Bahrain
Spain Monaco Canada Austria
Great Britain Hungary Belgium Italy
Singapore Japan Russia United States
Mexico Brazil Abu Dhabi

2014 Thoughts
Australia Malaysia Bahrain China
Spain Monaco Canada Austria
Great Britain Germany Hungary Belgium
Italy Singapore Japan Russia
United States Brazil Abu Dhabi

2013 Thoughts
Australia Malaysia China Bahrain
Spain Monaco Canada Great Britain
Germany Hungary Belgium Italy
Singapore South Korea Japan India
Abu Dhabi United States Brazil

2012 Thoughts
Australia Malaysia China Bahrain
Spain Monaco Canada Europe
Great Britain Germany Hungary Belgium
Italy Singapore Japan South Korea
India Abu Dhabi United States Brazil

2011 Thoughts
Australia Malaysia China Turkey
Spain Monaco Canada Europe
Great Britain Germany Hungary Belgium
Italy Singapore Japan South Korea
India Abu Dhabi Brazil

2010 Thoughts
Bahrain Australia Malaysia China
Spain Monaco Turkey Canada
Europe Great Britain Germany Hungary
Belgium Italy Singapore Japan
South Korea Brazil Abu Dhabi

2009 Thoughts
Australia Malaysia China Bahrain
Spain Monaco Turkey Great Britain
Germany Hungary Europe
Belgium Italy Singapore
Japan Brazil Abu Dhabi


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