Fuji, Japanese Grand Prix 2007

[Digital-Nitrate]

Now that's one scooter I might be willing to be caught driving.

I wonder if they ever sell/auction off these team scooters? I've never seen them at any of the F1 auctions, but I can't imagine why they wouldn't.... hmmm.

 

[Only_in_f1]

Isn't Coulthard's helmet design to look like McRae's?

Thats what i heard anyway..

 

[daan]

Looks like the even-older Fuji (earlier than the Gran Turismo versions) was as banked as AVUS and Monza:

Fuji was originally designed to be a huge, banked oval, but they ran out of money after completing only 1 of the banked corners, so they just made the rest of it into a road course.

http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/cir-023.html

Isn't Coulthard's helmet design to look like McRae's?

Yes, and he was going to get all the other drivers to sign it and then give it to Alison McRae.

 

[Tornado]

I'm willing to give Fuji a chance. Let's leave it at that.

 

[Danny]

I'll go with...

Raikkonen
Massa
Liuzzi
Alonso
Coulthard
Safety Car
Hamilton

 

[Appie]

Prediction

Raikkonen
Massa
Alonso
Hamilton
Heidfeld
Trulli
Barrichello

 

[Blake]

Yay! Ferrari win the first practice session! And Massa said he’ll support Kimi. It’s going to be a good weekend.

Blake when was the last time we got a live GP that wasn't ours?!

USGP 2007.

 

[Brett]

Definitely looking forward to this race, hopefully I will be able to catch qualifying tomorrow morning. 👍 I think this could be an interesting race because of the change of scenery in Japan, especially since Fuji's seems to have a different character than Suzuka.

 

[JohnBM01]

Ah, yes. Japan. A country I'd love to visit someday. A country I love for its nature, it's cities, and even its culture. "But John, they race at Fuji now." And all the wonderful tracks... wait a minute. Did you just say Fuji? "Yes, John." Okay. I'm still critical of Herman Tilke messing up the Fuji course just to bring F1 here. I still miss the classic circuit. You see, the previous circuit was a high-speed thrill ride with a catch. It used to be a track where you can enjoy sweeping corners and great amounts of speed in high-speed battle. Now, it's a very nice looking track... with a terrible configuration change. We already lost Hockenheim years ago. Now since these renovations we've... SOMEWHAT lost Fuji. The same attributes of this course are still there. It's just not as fun anymore. The Speed announce crew was talking about that overtaking could be very difficult.

It will be interesting to see how these cars would perform at this track with this newer configuration. From what I've heard, Fuji and Suzuka will alternate for the Japanese Grand Prix. After the Grand Prix of Japan, I have two nice debate questions lined up regarding Japanese race tracks and F1.

 

[Muzaffar]

Yay! Ferrari win the first practice session! And Massa said he’ll support Kimi. It’s going to be a good weekend.

Well thats half the story,

Pos  	No  	Driver  	        Team 	                Time/Retired  	Gap  	Laps
1 	6 	Kimi Räikkönen 	        Ferrari 	        1:19.119 		26
2 	5 	Felipe Massa 	        Ferrari 	        1:19.498 	0.379 	27
3 	1 	Fernando Alonso 	McLaren-Mercedes 	1:19.667 	0.548 	27
4 	2 	Lewis Hamilton 	        McLaren-Mercedes 	1:19.807 	0.688 	24
5 	16 	Nico Rosberg 	        Williams-Toyota 	1:20.058 	0.939 	26
6 	10 	Robert Kubica 	        BMW 	                1:20.297 	1.178 	26
7 	17 	Alexander Wurz 	        Williams-Toyota 	1:20.411 	1.292 	24
8 	12 	Jarno Trulli 	        Toyota 	                1:20.483 	1.364 	32
9 	20 	Adrian Sutil 	        Spyker-Ferrari 	        1:20.516 	1.397 	29
10 	23 	Anthony Davidson 	Super Aguri-Honda 	1:20.601 	1.482 	22
11 	8 	Rubens Barrichello 	Honda 	                1:20.686 	1.567 	24
12 	4 	Heikki Kovalainen 	Renault 	        1:20.718 	1.599 	27
13 	9 	Nick Heidfeld 	        BMW 	                1:20.728 	1.609 	26
14 	18 	Vitantonio Liuzzi 	STR-Ferrari 	        1:20.808 	1.689 	29
15 	11 	Ralf Schumacher 	Toyota 	                1:20.828 	1.709 	28
16 	3 	Giancarlo Fisichella 	Renault 	        1:20.851 	1.732 	23
17 	22 	Takuma Sato 	        Super Aguri-Honda      	1:21.186 	2.067 	15
18 	15 	Mark Webber 	        Red Bull-Renault 	1:21.437 	2.318 	18
19 	7 	Jenson Button 	        Honda 	                1:21.541 	2.422 	22
20 	19 	Sebastian Vettel 	STR-Ferrari 	        1:21.854 	2.735 	18
21 	14 	David Coulthard 	Red Bull-Renault 	1:22.436 	3.317 	18
22 	21 	Sakon Yamamoto 	        Spyker-Ferrari 	        1:22.902 	3.783 	17

Can't believe how fast the Williams are here in Fuji, even out pacing the BMW. A Toyota home advantage perhaps? Look what we have here, Sutil 9th? that shows those Liuzzies what a race driver is all about, in a less develop car none the less. Sakon should be ashamed of himself. Not only getting overshadowed by his teammate but on his home track?

 

[Digital-Nitrate]

Well thats half the story,

Also at least so far, after about 20 laps the McLaren's have not only beaten Ferrari's times from session #1, but they have also posted the fastest lap times in session #2, and by a full second over the Ferraris:

1. 1:18.734 Hamilton
2. 1:18.948 Alonso
3. 1:19.709 Massa
4. 1:19.714 Raikkonen

30 minutes are still remaining in the session so anything can change... and it is just practice.

EDIT: Trulli just bumped Kimi for 4th best time with a 1:19.711, and Kovalainen is also matching the Ferrari's times with a 1:19.789 good for 6th best so far.

Can't believe how fast the Williams are here in Fuji, even out pacing the BMW.

It's because they are now using Ferrari's wheel fairings... oh wait, those are the other "Toyota's"


Speaking of which... is it just me or is Ralf trying out for the Pro Drifting Series?

 

[Digital-Nitrate]

Practice Session #2 Results:

Renault look to be improved... possibly trying to send a reassuring message to Alonso that they might have something good for him to drive should he return to Renault next year.

 

[Omnis]

Can't believe how fast the Williams are here in Fuji, even out pacing the BMW. A Toyota home advantage perhaps? Look what we have here, Sutil 9th? that shows those Liuzzies what a race driver is all about, in a less develop car none the less. Sakon should be ashamed of himself. Not only getting overshadowed by his teammate but on his home track?

Williams is fast, but it's still practice. Sutil is an awesome driver, but, again, it's still practice.

I still think Toyota should fire Ralf and hire Sutil.

 

[Metar]

Look what we have here, Sutil 9th? that shows those Liuzzies what a race driver is all about, in a less develop car none the less. Sakon should be ashamed of himself. Not only getting overshadowed by his teammate but on his home track?

Lets check something.

Sakon Yamamoto, last we checked, was a crappy driver. He improved this year, but he still sucks.

However, I see no point comparing Vitantonio and Adrian. Spyker debuted bitchloads of new parts at Monza, Spa, and now Fuji - they have insane amounts of new parts - making the car more than equal to the Toro Rossos, maybe even superior. Consider the fact that Spa's car already passed a Toyota, Red Bull, and more - and that the Fuji car is improved even more.

 

[Lee]

Alonso
Hamilton
Massa
Heidfeld
Kubica
Coulthard
Kovalinen
Webber

 

[Metar]

Alonso
Hamilton
Massa
Heidfeld
Kubica
Coulthard
Kovalinen
Webber

Alonso
Hamilton
Massa
Heidfeld
Kubica
Coulthard
Kovalinen
Sato

That's more like it

 

[Roo]

Look what we have here, Sutil 9th?

He's one of the few drivers who's raced here before, so he knows the track. Order restored itself in FP2 though - back to 16th.

 

[Cap'n Jack]

The final practice session has been cancled, due to bad weather.

The final practice session for the Japanese Grnad Prix at Fuji was abandoned after just four minutes of track action because of very poor visibility in very wet conditions.
Click here

The start of the session was initially delayed by fifteen minutes because of heavy rain and a low cloud which was hindering track visibility and making conditions unsafe for the medical helicopter to fly. When conditions hadn't improved much, the session was delayed for a further fifteen minutes.

The action got underway half an hour late, but as it did, so the heavens opened and another downpour soaked the circuit. Visibility was the big loser and after four minutes of action the session was stopped. Stewards tried to restart the session until eventually, at 11.53am local time decided conditions were so treacherous the session would need to be abandoned.

Until that point only three drivers managed to set timed laps - the fastest for the record was Alex Wurz. No driver managed to squeeze in more than three laps and Kimi Raikkonen was the only one not to even have completed a single installation lap.

 

[ROAD_DOGG33J]

Any weather predictions for the race or qualifying?

 

[Digital-Nitrate]

Any weather predictions for the race or qualifying?

• 57 Degrees (track temp is 70 degrees)
• 6 mph Winds
• 95% Humidty
• 957.3 mBar Pressure
• Fog
• Light Rain

 

[Digital-Nitrate]

Can't believe how fast the Williams are here in Fuji, even out pacing the BMW. A Toyota home advantage perhaps? Look what we have here, Sutil 9th? that shows those Liuzzies what a race driver is all about, in a less develop car none the less. Sakon should be ashamed of himself. Not only getting overshadowed by his teammate but on his home track?

Well, Q3 hasn't started yet and it looks like the status quos.

Ferrari & McLaren lead the others with BMW close behind, Renault didn't even make it to Q3, and Sutil got knocked off in 20th position, with Sato and Yamamoto in the rears. At least Button seems to be having solid qualifying sessions.

 

[Digital-Nitrate]

Qualifying Results:

 

[Blake]

Button and Vettel doing a fine job in the wet. For their sake I hope it’s wet tomorrow.

Should be a cracker.

 

[Tornado]

Having not watched qualifying, or read much of this thread, what's the story with none of Ralf's section times being shown?
Anyways, I hope good things happen to Webber. I think it would be awesome (though highly unlikely) if he could win a race, but a nice top 5 would be great as well. I think he is in a good position to allow it, and the Red Bulls seem competitive here. Heidfeld may be a problem, though.

 

[MTC]

what's the story with none of Ralf's section times being shown?

He crashed into a Spyker at the end of Q1 after setting a time good enough to get through, his car couldn't be fixed in time for Q2. The timing screen would show his Q2 times but he didn't set any.

 

[zoxxy]

And the two japanese drivers are last. Must feel awesome.

 

[<_Spike_>]

Very interesting comments from Lewis

Ted - "...and when you came back onto the track you pushed him towards the wall"
Lewis "I didn't really push him into the wall, I gave him space, I should've pushed him into the wall heh"

Ted - "You've said you're going to be more aggressive, how is that going to manifest itself, what did you mean by that?"
Lewis - "Well next time I'm not going to give him space, simple as that"

speaking of the first 1/4 of the lap at the beginning of the Belgian GP

LOL@ at Ralf, smacking into the back of the Spyker being impatient...tsk tsk...

 

[Metar]

Nico lost it. 'it' being his mind, that is.

I think I am going to do a rain dance in my hotel room tonight as I think a lot of rain tomorrow would help me from my starting position further back.

 

[<_Spike_>]

Haha, nice one Nico. Well whatever helps.

Good qualy, fantastic final lap by Lewis. It's all in his hands now. Well done Button too

 

[Roo]

Bugger. I has convinced the quali re-run was at 11.30am today. Turns out it was 10am. Sounds like it was the best one of the season too.

Still, nice look to the grid. Nice one Vettel, winning £20.