2015 Japanese Grand Prix grid

2015 Japanese Grand Prix

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Row 11. Nico Rosberg 1’32.584
Mercedes
2. Lewis Hamilton 1’32.660
Mercedes
Row 23. Valtteri Bottas 1’33.024
Williams
4. Sebastian Vettel 1’33.245
Ferrari
Row 35. Felipe Massa 1’33.337
Williams
6. Kimi Raikkonen 1’33.347
Ferrari
Row 47. Daniel Ricciardo 1’33.497
Red Bull
8. Romain Grosjean 1’33.967
Lotus
Row 59. Sergio Perez No time
Force India
10. Carlos Sainz Jnr 1’34.453
Toro Rosso
Row 611. Pastor Maldonado 1’34.497
Lotus
12. Fernando Alonso 1’34.785
McLaren
Row 713. Nico Hulkenberg* 1’34.390
Force India
14. Jenson Button 1’35.664
McLaren
Row 815. Marcus Ericsson 1’35.673
Sauber
16. Felipe Nasr 1’35.760
Sauber
Row 917. Max Verstappen** No time
Toro Rosso
18. Will Stevens 1’38.786
Manor
Row 1019. Alexander Rossi*** 1’47.114
Manor
20. Daniil Kvyat**** No time
Red Bull

*Three-place penalty for collision with Felipe Massa
**Three-place penalty for stopping on the racing line
***Outside 107% in qualifying, given permission to start
****Has changed chassis, will start from pits

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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21 comments on “2015 Japanese Grand Prix grid”

  1. Get in there Nico. Make the race interesting tomorrow.

  2. What’s up with the TV’s not showing neither of the Mercedes’ lap or any footage of the Mercedes??

    1. Because they were too busy showing Honda and Ferrari fans…

    2. The race director seemed to really love Bottas for some reason.

      1. @kingshark Well, it was a good lap from Bottas to be fair, and he goes well here, so probably the best one to see. We’ll see the pole lap anyway in pre-race analysis.

    3. TV coverage is so bad not only during qualifyings but also during races, they try to focus on few things while forgetting about important things like actually the cars that are still battling and pushing for positions. Examples are following the pitstops no matter what during the races and usually showing only who they think is the pole sitter and their garages cheering while forgetting about the cars that are still doing their laps during Q3.
      F1 desperately needs split screens.

    4. This is ridiculous… Not even one part…. Even for the battle at the end… The camera was on Ricciardo while Rosberg was ahead doing a flying first sector.. then Hamilton beated it… Even on the 2nd lap, the camera was on Bottas and Rosberg was ahead…

    5. There was a rumour going around that Bernie wasn’t too happy with Merc declining to provide engines to RB.

      But I’m sure thats just my inner cynic in overdrive.

      1. Just what I was thinking, it was so noticeable. There’s an element of the TV director lacking an instinct for racing too, I suspect.

        All the moaning from Bernie about engines and dominance, but they can’t make the best of what they’ve got. Hopeless website, no clue about battery usage while they’re battling…

  3. Should be an interesting race. I expect a close battle between the Mercs for the lead and another one for the final podium spot.

  4. Kvyat to mechanic : Can you have it fixed for tomorrow?

  5. Good stuff Nico. Hopefully a close fight tomorrow and Nico gets it for the championships sake.

    Glad Daniil is ok. That’s one for the scrapbook for him.

    1. He seemed to struggle all weekend. I wonder what he can do tomorrow.

      1. Yeah looks like he’s just overdriving at the moment. Not good. I also think Suzuka allows the same scope for errors as Monaco (given the track edges are lined with grass just about everywhere) but with higher speeds. Which are probably hard to adjust to given all other tracks are relatively forgiving nowadays.

  6. Kvyat’s crash was freaking weird! o_O

  7. As expected, Mercedes have returned to their pedestal, but nonetheless the order is a nice change!

    1. PS, lines separating comment threads are great

  8. The TV director was even worse than usual today. We saw none of the fastest laps and when Kvyat has an almighty shunt, we get shown some Doris in the crowd. Poor work, fella!

  9. Generally I find TV motorsport directors quite hopeless. I watch F1 always, and sometimes V8 Supercars, and there seems to be this obsession with showing “people” – whether they be in the pits or in the crowd. Also the directors concentrate far to much on the pits rather than the track. For example those shots of the back of the heads of the guys on the pit wall really need to cease. I sense they do it to “humanise” a sport where the participants are mostly hidden as they do their thing (in a car with a helmet on) but for the purist it’s eternally frustrating. It’s hilarious in V8 Supercars when the directors seem to think a car travelling at 40 kmh (yes 40) in the pit lane is more interesting than a car at 250 kmh! Sometimes I switch off in frustration. In F1 Bernie needs to get only the best directors who know something about motorsport. Pleeaasssee!

    1. The “best” cost money. That money would be better served lining the pockets of CVC and Bernie so they can think up new ways to attract 70-year-old Rolex wearers to the sport.

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