F1 Suzuka Results & Full Race Report: Vettel Breaks Alonso’s Winning Streak

What Happens When the Drive of the Race Comes From the Back

3:47am EST — Sebastian Vettel won the 2010 Japanese Grand Prix hours after winning pole during the delayed qualifying, holding off teammate Mark Webber and the rest of the championship contenders, with Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button, and Lewis Hamilton rounding out the top five. Hamilton lost position to Button after losing third gear two thirds of the way through the race, which practically began under SC conditions caused by separate incidents for Vitaly Petrov and Nico Hulkenberg, Felipe Massa and Tonio Liuzzi. Both incidents are to be investigated after the race. Suzuka was harder on tires than ever, with Robert Kubica out of second under the safety car when his entire right wheel came off, as did Nico Rosberg’s in the closing stages of the race. Kamui Kobayashi wowed the home crowds by forcing his way up to seventh after qualifying fourteenth.

Vettel won pole in a dominating way Sunday morning, posting the fastest time halfway through the final session and shaving more time off at the end. It was a qualifying session of will-they, won’t-they? as rain pelted the Suzuka circuit Saturday, delaying qualifying until a sunny and dry race day morning. Webber completed the Red Bull speed duo to start second, with Hamilton starting five grid positions behind his qualifying position of third, due to a gearbox change before qualifying. Kubica showed some Renault development to post the fourth fastest time with Alonso rounding out the fastest five. They will start third and fourth with Button starting fifth after his teammate’s penalty. Both Mercedes cars and Williams teammates qualified in Q3, with Rosberg, Barrichello, Hulkenberg, and Schumacher the top ten qualifiers. Massa was unable to progress beyond Q2 and qualified twelfth eleventh. Both Ferraris had issues with the softer tires unable to improve their times dramatically, as is usual, from the harder compound. Button will start on the harder tire with a qualifying strategy gamble. Lucas di Grassi had a huge shunt at 130R on his installation lap, destroying the car, though the Brazilian appeared to be unhurt.

The sun shone as it had earlier in the day for qualifying for the start, with a crash in the middle of the pack for Petrov on the straight as Vettel led Kubica, Webber, Alonso, and Button as the top five, with Hamilton jumping up to sixth. The safety car was deployed before the first lap was completed with Massa also stopped in the gravel, Liuzzi’s car being craned away and Hulkenberg also out. Rosberg, Trulli, Glock and Senna all pitted. On replays, Petrov looked to go right across the track with some smoke from the rear, hitting Hulkenberg’s front. Massa and Liuzzi were a separate incident, with the two coming together into Turn 1 as Massa attempted to squeeze down the inside. Glock pitted for a second time, with Vettel, Kubica, Webber, Alonso, Button, Hamilton, Barrichello, Schumacher, Heidfeld, and Sutil the top ten behind the SC. Drama continued for Renault as Kubica slowed and pulled off the circuit, parking the car on the third lap with no right real wheel (rim or tire). On the radio, Button was reporting vibration while on the brakes, though McLaren told him it should clear up when under racing conditions. That moved Webber up to second and Alonso to the podium, Button and Hamilton the top five. Hamilton was also reporting a similar vibration as Button, apparently a condition of not getting the brakes cool enough behind the SC.

F1 Suzuka Quali Results & Full Report: Vettel Goes Faster and Faster While Ferrari Struggles with Softer Tires

What Happens When the Rain Stops, the Track Dries (Mainly) and the Race is 5 Hours After Quali Begins

10:11pm EST —Sebastian Vettel won pole for the 2010 Japanese Grand Prix in a dominating way, posting the fastest time halfway through the final session and shaving more time off at the end. It was a qualifying session of will-they, won’t-they? as rain pelted the Suzuka circuit Saturday, delaying qualifying until a sunny and dry Sunday morning. Mark Webber completed the Red Bull speed duo to start second, with Lewis Hamilton will start five grid positions behind his qualifying position of third, due to a gearbox change before qualifying. Robert Kubica showed some Renault development to post the fourth fastest time with Fernando Alonso rounding out the fastest five. They will start third and fourth with Jenson Button starting fifth after his teammate’s penalty. Both Mercedes cars and Williams teammate qualified in Q3, with Nico Rosberg, Rubens Barrichello, Nico Hulkenberg, and Michael Schumacher the top ten qualifiers.  Felipe Massa was unable to progress beyond Q2 and qualified twelfth eleventh. Both Ferraris had issues with the softer tires unable to improve their times dramatically, as is usual, from the harder compound. Button will start on the harder tire with a qualifying strategy gamble.

Speculation over the status of qualifying began during the rain-soaked final practice, one where only Jaime Alguersuari and Timo Glock set times. All drivers left the garage, but only those two went around the entire lap. Vettel and Red Bull led the two dry practices, marked mainly by Hamilton’s absence after a crash that required extensive repairs, bleeding into the second practice sessions. Kubica was quick in both sessions, with the Ferraris of Alonso and Massa “improving” dramatically from the first to second session, as per usual.

Fifteen minutes before Q1 was to have begun on Saturday, the FIA announced that the session start would begin a half hour late, with a track test and further announcement ten minutes before the later start time. After the SC made it’s check, Whiting announced that there would be a further half hour delay, moving the session back by an hour, and another delay indicating that qualifying would then just be postponed to Sunday, as there would then not be enough time to finish qualifying before night fell. It was not to be, as another half hour delay was announced, with yet another decision to come ten minutes before the newly scheduled start. A half hour after qualifying was to have begun, the announcement came that it was delayed until Sunday morning. Sunday dawned with the rain having stopped and the sky turning bright blue, for a Sunday filled with both qualifying and race, a test of endurance for any mechanic unlucky enough to have a driver damage his car early in the day.

Q1:
Petrov was the first man out onto the dry but still damp in spots circuit for the twenty-minute Q1 session, followed by both Virgin Racing drivers, the Williams, Lotus, Senna, and Button while the rest of the field waited to let them dry off the track. McLaren had returned to their older wing configuration with too little running time on Friday to determine its effectiveness. Very quickly, though, all but a knockout zone’s worth of drivers were circulating. Hulkenberg was the first to post a close to competitive time (1:35.352), though he was eclipsed by Sutil, Massa, and Petrov before returning ot the top position finally down into the 1:32s, though still a second and a half off of Vettel’s fastest time in the second Friday practice. Schumacher and Barrichello were quick early on as well, with Barrichello, Hulkenberg, Heidfeld, Schumacher, Massa, Sutil, Liuzzi, Alguersuari, and Kobayashi the top ten with twelve minutes left int the session. Alonso, Button, Hamilton, Webber, Vettel, and Kubica had yet to set a time, finally joining the fray at almost the halfway point.

F1 Suzuka: Quali Delayed Until Race Day Morning, SPEED Won’t Cover Live

What Happens When ARCA Trumps F1 Quali

2:32am EST — After an hour and a half of going through the motions, qualifying for the 2010 Japanese Grand Prix was postponed until Sunday morning, likely at 10am local time, 9pm EST, due to a continued downpour.  Only Jaime Alguersuari and Timo Glock set times during the final, Saturday morning, practice session.  Alguersuari was faster, by over eleven seconds with a 1:55.902, while Glock posted a 2:07.497.  No one else risked a set lap time in the pouring and standing rain.  The most racing action at the circuit on Saturday was the boat (made from bits and bobbles about the garage) races down pit lane.  Qualifying coverage will be delayed on SPEED for American viewers until midnight, directly before the race coverage will begin at 1:30am EST.

[UPDATE] F1 Suzuka Practice Results: Alguersuari Fastest of 2, Quali Possibly Delayed

What Happens When Red Bull Builds an Ark

11:45pm EST — Only Jaime Alguersuari and Timo Glock set times during the final, Saturday morning, practice session for the 2010 Japanese Grand Prix.  Alguersuari was faster, by over eleven seconds with a 1:55.902, while Glock posted a 2:07.497.  No one else risked a set lap time in the pouring and standing rain.  According to Autosport F1 editor Jon Noble on Twitter at 11:30pm EST, “My understanding from the FIA, teams and drivers is that qualifying will not go ahead today unless conditions improve.”  Most teams on Twitter were decrying the conditions and suggesting that qualifying would be better held on a drier Sunday morning, though there was no official news at the time of this posting.  SPEED pitlane correspondent Will Buxton was “hearing that Charlie Whiting will make a decision on qualifying at 13:50 local time here in Suzuka.”  Meanwhile, Daily Mirror F1 reporter Byron Young tweeted, “FIA say qualifying will start and then a decision will be made.  Forecasts for the rain to ease shortly but may get bad again.”  More information will be published when available.

UPDATE: According to BBC reporter Sarah Holt, “Ted Kravitz has spoken to race director Charlie Whiting who says his plan is to start qualifying in 45 minutes time. Mr Whiting will keep extending qualifying in the hope it will be safe for the drivers to run before making a decision on any postponement.”

F1 Suzuka FP2 Results & Full Report: Vettel Fastest Again with Webber, Kubica Behind

What Happens When Things Stay the Same

2:43am EST — Sebastian Vettel continued his dominance of Friday practice in the likely final bits of dry running before a forecast rainy Saturday, again leading teammate Mark Webber and followed by Robert Kubica. Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa improved their Ferrari times from the first session to round out the fastest five. Jenson Button did nearly the entirety of McLaren’s legwork after Hamilton’s crash in the first session to post the sixth fastest time (Hamilton would only get eight minutes of running time and a thirteenth fastest lap time), with a quick Vitaly Petrov, then Michael Schumacher, Adrian Sutil, and Nico Hulkenberg the end of the top ten.

It was a Red Bull runaway in the first practice session, with Vettel (1:32.585) leading teammate Webber by less than a half-tenth of a second. Kubica was the closest challenger, a half second off Vettel, with Sutil and his perpetual fast times in Friday practice putting him fourth fastest and the first of a number of drivers a second off the fastest pace. Hamilton rounded out the fastest five with a time posted in the first half of the session and within nine running laps as a trip over the kerbs forced him into the tire barrier at Degner, damaging the left front suspension of his McLaren. Teammate Button was twelfth fastest at the end of the session, just slower than Massa, and faster than Alonso with the usual Ferrari mid-pack times for the first session. Barrichello and Hulkenberg continued the hopes of Williams with sixth and seventh fastest times, Schumacher, Heidfeld (continuing his replacement of Pedro de la Rosa at Sauber), and Rosberg rounding the top ten.

The second practice session began withAlguersuari again the first driver onto the circuit, followed by Kobayashi. The sky had gotten cloudier, but there was no forecast of rain until Saturday, when it is supposed to pour. Liuzzi and Vettel led a good portion of the field out for their installation laps and presumably more running times than posted in the first session. Hamilton was in the McLaren garage, waiting on the repairs to his damaged car. Times began to be posted less than five minutes into FP2, with Alguersuari, Liuzzi, and Kobayashi the first to do so, despite only seven drivers remaining in the garage. Heidfeld took fastest with a 1:35.053, over two seconds slower than his FP1 time, and three seconds slower than Vettel’s. Times continued to drop as the drivers got to the business of setting times and checking set-up. Hulkenberg was faster, then Kubica, then Alonso with a 1:33.159 and only eight minutes gone in the session. Both Renaults were quick this early in the session as well, with Petrov second, Hulkenberg, Kubica, and Barrichello rounding out the fastest five just ten minutes in. Soon thereafter Schumacher was second fastest, a tenth and a half off of Alonso’s time, which was a second faster than his time in the first practice and six tenths off Vettel’s from then. On his first proper run, Webber went straight to fastest with a 1:43.574, already faster than his and his teammate’s FP1 times. Vettel was third fastest on his first run, then fastest, by .073 on the next lap. He bettered his time again the next time around as most of the drivers were back in the garage.

F1 Suzuka FP1 Results & Full Report: Red Bulls Run Away Whilst Hamilton Crashes

What Happens When a Session’s Worth of Practice Won’t Win the Championship

10:47pm EST —It was another Red Bull runaway in the first practice session for the 2010 Japanese Grand Prix, with Sebastian Vettel (1:32.585) leading teammate Mark Webber by less than a half-tenth of a second.  Robert Kubica was the closest challenger, a half second off Vettel, with Adrian Sutil and his perpetual fast times in Friday practice putting him fourth fastest and the first of a number of drivers a second off the fastest pace.  Lewis Hamilton rounded out the fastest five with a time posted in the first half of the session and within nine running laps as a trip over the kerbs forced him into the tire barrier at Degner, damaging the left front suspension of his McLaren.  Teammate Jenson Button was twelfth fastest at the end of the session, just slower than Felipr Massa, and faster than Fernando Alonso with the usual Ferrari mid-pack times for the first session.  Rubens Barrichello and Nico Hulkenberg continued the hopes of Williams with sixth and seventh fastest times, Michael Schumacher, Nick Heidfeld (continuing his replacement of Pedro de la Rosa at Sauber), and Nico Rosberg rounding the top ten.

The first of two Friday practices began under a relatively clear and sunny sky, with most of the field streaming out of their garages straightaway, Alguersuari leading the way.  Sakon Yamamoto was in his HRT for at least Friday, presumably no longer suffering from the illness that struck him down for the race two weeks ago in Singapore.  Jerome D’Ambrosio was again in the Virgin Racing of Lucas di Grassi.  Soon enough, only Hamilton, Button, and Kovalainen were on the circuit, the others having completed their installation laps and returned to the garage.  Various drivers took the mantel of “only driver on the track” as teams worked on set-up, though Mike Gascoyne noted on Twitter, “Expect more running than usual in P1 as teams try to get as much dry running as possible as there will be none tomorrow.”  Yamamoto was the first to set a time, nearly a half hour into the session, a 1:42.950, nearly fourteen seconds off Schumacher’s lap record of 1:28.954 from 2006.  He was soon joined by D’Ambrosio, both setting times in the 1:41s as Yamamoto improved.  Kobayashi and Hulkenberg, then Buemi took those times away from the rookies as more and more drivers began actually completing laps with one third of the session gone.  With fifty-five minutes left, Kobayashi was fastest with a 1:34.271, less than six seconds off the record, with Hulkenberg, Buemi, D’Ambrosio, Petrov, Yamamoto, and Senna the seven drivers to have set a time.

F1 Singapore Results & Full Race Report: Alonso Dominates a GP at Turns Both Boring and Exhilarating

What Happens When Kovy Changes Careers

10:11am EST — Fernando Alonso never gave up the lead, winning the 2010 Singapore Grand Prix from pole, despite two safety cars, some investigated incidents between Mark Webber and Lewis Hamilton, Michael Schumacher and Nick Heidfeld, and a fire on the front straight that required Heikki Kovalainen to become his own fireman, and a challenge from Sebastian Vettel for much of the race. Vettel finished a close second, with Webber, Jenson Button, and Nico Rosberg rounding out the top five. The racing incident between Webber and Hamilton knocked the Briton out of the race, his second DNF in a row, while the drive of the race might have been Robert Kubica’s return to seventh after a late puncture dropped him back to eleventh.

Fernando Alonso made it two poles in a row for Ferrari winning pole position for the 2010 Singapore Grand Prix halfway through Saturday’s qualifying session, with second-place starter Sebastian Vettel unable to beat the Spaniard in their final flying laps. McLaren duo Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button with Mark Webber round our the top five starters, while Rubens Barrichello put in a good showing for Williams to start sixth. Michael Schumacher again made it into Q3, qualifying in what feels like his typical ninths. It was a mixed-emotion day at Ferrari, with pole-sitter Alonso’s teammate Felipe Massa starting last after an electronic issue kept him from posting a time in Q1 and leaving him to start last on Sunday. Alguersuari started from the pit lane because of a water leak.

Nearly the entire grid was on the soft tires as the lights went out to start, with Alonso moving over on Vettel to keep the lead as Button and Hamilton fought, with Hamilton keeping his position and fighting between Rosberg and Kubica for sixth. Massa made a couple of positions up on the start and first few turns, while Alonso had a second lead at the end of the first lap. Massa pitted, as did a damaged Heidfeld for a new front wing, with Massa switching to the harder tire, as per regulations. Meanwhile, Liuzzi had stopped on the circuit with what appeared to be a broken suspension, causing a local yellow, then the safety car on L3. Alonso led Vettel, Hamilton, Button, Webber, Rosberg, Kubica, Barrichello, Schumacher, and Petrov as the top ten as the SC deployed. The rear of the field stopped, barring Massa, to a man, with Webber also getting new tires and getting stuck in the pit whilst waiting for traffic to clear. As the SC picked everyone up, the the top four remained the same, with Webber falling to eleventh on the stop, right behind Timo Glock. The top eight, barring Webber, had not stopped, but twelfth back was Petrov, Hulkenberg, Sutil, Massa, Buemi, Kovalainen, Trulli, Alguersuari, di Grassi, Klien, Senna, and Heidfeld. Heidfeld had quite a lot of action with Force India on the start, getting hit from the back, and hitting the rear of Liuzzi, causing the broken suspension.

F1 Singapore Quali Results & Report: Alonso Takes Pole, 5 Title Contenders to Start in Top 5

What Happens When an Island is a Happy Place for Alonso

11:14am EST —Fernando Alonso made it two poles in a row for Ferrari winning pole position for the 2010 Singapore Grand Prix halfway through the final qualifying session, with second-place starter Sebastian Vettel unable to beat the Spaniard in their final flying laps. McLaren duo Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button with Mark Webber round our the top five starters, while Rubens Barrichello put in a good showing for Williams to start sixth. Michael Schumacher again made it into Q3, qualifying in what feels like his typical ninths. It was a mixed-emotion day at Ferrari, with pole-sitter Alonso’s teammate Felipe Massa starting last after an electronic issue kept him from posting a time in Q1 and leaving him to start last on Sunday.

It was Red Bull all the way in both Friday practices, with Webber taking the lead as the circuit finally dried out after a typical late afternoon storm put standing water on the track an hour before the first practice. It was a topsy-turvy session, as Kobayashi, Schumacher, and Virgin Racing’s Glock spent quite a bit of time on the top of the timesheets in the middle of the session. It was the second session that brought representative dry times, as Vettel was the first and only driver into the 1:46s range, over a half second faster than his teammate Webber, who was second fastest, and a second or more faster than Button, Alonso, Hamilton, and the rest of the field. Alonso ended his session with twenty minutes to go when he went down an escape route (after being poised to set a very fast lap time) to avoid crashing and seemed to have stalled the car. According to Ferrari, “We need to wait until the car is brought back in the garage to understand what happened when Fernando was rejoining the track.” Vettel kept to the top of the timesheets for the final practice before qualifying on Saturday, leading Alonso, Hamilton, Massa, and Rosberg as the top five on a patchily damp circuit. Again, there were spins, but no major incidents.

Q1:
It was a bit of a procession to get out of the pits for the first sector of qualifying as twelve cars were on the circuit straightaway; while Hamilton was one of the first out, Button, both Ferraris, Red Bulls, Williams, and a few others remained in the garage. The track was delcared dry, though there were a few wet spots, “It looks that there are still some damp patches at turns 3 and 5,” according to Ferrari. Four minutes in and only five drivers had not headed out, with early “fast” times set by Liuzzi, Glock, and other new teams until Hamilton went straight to the top, followed by Kobayashi. Button and Vettel were fastest and second fastest, with Schumacher’s time also eclipsing Hamilton’s, and Liuzzi rouding out the top five with thirteen minutes left in the twenty minute session.

Alonso was soon fastest, but he lost that time to Vettel, both of them the only drivers in the 1:47s range as Alguersuari was a surprise in third, only to be moved backward by Webber’s 1:47.794, with Button fourth fastest. The session was stopped with just over ten minutes left for Massa stopped on the circuit with a suspected engine issue. His session was over before he could set a time. According to Ferrari, “The engine stopped but we need to see what exactly happened once the car will be brought in the garage.” Hulkenberg was the first one back onto the circuit as everyone but his teammate and Alonso stayed in the garage. Neither Williams, Sutil, nor Kubica had set a time, along with the luckless Massa. With seven minutes left in the session, Vettel remained at the top, followed by Alonso, Webber, Button, Alguersuari, Hamilton, Schumacher, Rosberg, Heidfeld, and Liuzzi as the top ten. Still, Barrichello, Kubica, and Sutil had not set a time, until Barrichello went straight to eleventh with his first time. Ferrari also tweeted, “Loos like a problem with electronic management of the gearbox but we need to wait until the car is back in the pit.” Sutil was off to tenth with his first lap.