The
2014 Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix, a race that had more than its share of rain
and rain related woes, saw Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes AMG Petronas being
declared the winner. The Round 15 of the season was held at the legendary
5.807km Suzuka circuit in Japan and did not see the completion of the 53 laps.
Apparently
the race was stopped because Jules Bianchi of Marussia-Ferrari was rushed to
the medical centre after a crash that ended the race a few laps before the
stipulated rounds. It is believed that Jules Bianchi’s car hit a recovery
vehicle that left him unconscious, when reports came in last. Apparently he was
rushed by road under police escort to the hospital because helicopters could
not operate under such adverse weather conditions.
Under
highly unusual conditions, Hamilton won in Japan after 44 laps. Second to come
in was his teammate Nico Rosberg, while Sebastian Vettel of Infiniti Red Bull
Racing came in third. With this win, Lewis has extended his championship lead
to 10 points.
Even
as the race was to begin, Typhoon Phanfone was threatening to wash out the
race. It began raining heavily as the race was to begin and the race started
behind the safety car, with all drivers on wet tyres. On the grid were Nico Rosberg of Mercedes AMG
Petronas who started from pole position
for the eight time this season, with teammate and championship leader Lewis
Hamilton alongside him on the front row. Valtteri Bottas of Williams Mercedes
was third, his teammate Felipe Massa was fourth. Kevin Magnussen and Jenson Button of
McLaren-Mercedes were in row four with
Sebastian Vettel of Infinit Red Bull ninth and Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari
completing the top ten. This was Vettel’s final Japanese Grand Prix for Red
Bull. He has announced that he would be leaving the team at the end of the
year.
Conditions
were slippery from the word ‘Go’ with Force India’s Sergio Perez spinning off
during his lap to the grid but thankfully made it back on track after a brief
trip through the gravel. Marcus Ericsson of Caterham-Renault spun in lap 2 and
was stationary at the final turn. The Swede managed to spin turn and rejoin the
proceedings. With the red flag out, the race was suspended in the pit lane. All
the cars came into the pits, led by the safety car. Around lap 3 stage the race
was suspended and many drivers opted to get out of their cars. It resumed after
10 minutes.
Soon
after when the race was about to begin, Alonso stopped his car on the track and
got out with a technical problem. The Ferrari was then cleared from Turn 5. Later
Alonso reported that it was an electrical problem that stopped his Ferrari. By
Lap 9, the safety car peeled off and Nico Rosberg led the restart. By lap 29 Hamilton is able to sweep around
the outside of Rosberg into Turn 1 to take the lead.
As
the race progressed, rains continued to pelt down on the cars. Adrian Sutil is
in the barriers at Turn7 in lap43, signalling the end of the race for him. His
damaged Sauber-Ferraro car is cleared.
The safety car is deployed. Sutil is safely out of the car.
By
lap 46, the red flag came out for the second time and the cars come into the
pit lane. The safety car leads the field into the pit lane where they queue
behind it in race order. By lap 47, it was decided that the race will not be
resumed.