2013 Japanese GP - Suzuka

[turbof1]

Yes but it's still not as easy as some other circuits. I'd disagree that the chicane gets a lot of overtaking. Hairpin, possibly, but it'd have to be a do-or-die dive-bomb

Does someone scream... Koba-kazi ?

[Jonnycraig]

Given Suzuka's quite hard to overtake at, and how good Button is through Sector 2 here, I think we'll get to see Button get to higher points (P4-P5ish) with a Button TyreSave Special™ (or more technically known as "n-1 stop")

I'm not convinced by "Sazuka's quite hard to overtake at". We generally see a good number of passes into the hairpin, and the chicaine.

After last season, it would be pretty poor form should Hamilton get pole and let Vettel get inside him at the hairpin.

[mikeerfol]

Any chance it will rain?

[godlameroso]

Perez tried to overtake at the hairpin, remember what happened to him? They could have put a DRS zone right after Spoon curve, however it's tricky to do the 130R with DRS on, maybe a bit dangerous.

Not really going to rain, maybe for today's practice session but it's looking like a dry RB dominance weekend.

[FrukostScones]

Any chance it will rain?

0%, better for their health

[Vasconia]

Any chance it will rain?

Only tomorrow which could be a quite rainy day, this will destroy all the plans of the teams to find the perfect set-up, which is especially important in a so technical track like this one.

Sadly it won’t be rain at all on Sunday.

I expect an easy win for Sebastian, my only hope is if a Mercedes can get a pole and retain Vettel a little bit.

[mikeerfol]

Any chance it will rain?

Only tomorrow which could be a quite rainy day, this will destroy all the plans of the teams to find the perfect set-up, which is especially important in a so technical track like this one.

Sadly it won’t be rain at all on Sunday.

I expect an easy win for Sebastian, my only hope is if a Mercedes can get a pole and retain Vettel a little bit.

+1, hopefully that Mercedes will lead at least 1 lap so we don't see another grand chelem from Vettel

[AnthonyG]

I have a feeling it might be Webber's weekend.

[raymondu999]

Through 130R, why does Vettel's LEFT front (not RIGHT front) heat up nore?

[godlameroso]

It'll be close, but it seems Mercedes is strong here and they can certainly challenge for pole, Red Bull still has tremendous race pace, maybe a second faster than everyone else. We'll see how they run on mediums, I expect pole to be in the high 1:30's.

[ringo]

remember last race in korea?
Redbull only shows their 0.5s gap in practice 3. Then the 1 second gap shows up in qualifying, which then turns to 2 seconds in the race.
I still think Redbull will pole here. Hamilton will be doing well of course, but not better than the bulls. The past 4 years it's been what will hamilton do to get pole from a redbull.

[CHT]

Business as usual weekend, RBR is just playing their part to make sure Merc fans will switch on their TV on Sat to watch the qualifying.

[Blackout]

Lotus should be closer to RBR here thanks to the numerous fast turns (they were already close to them In Korea) and Mercedes should be closer to Lotus or faster.

[Sevach]

Red Bull with less wing again.

[n_anirudh]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1j7hmJmSJA[/youtube]

No doubt F1 cars are a lot safer, and Japanese marshals are more efficient/quick, has there been any news of improvements to the circuit since that crash in may 2013?