[Antilochos]

Merc with more mediums than anyone else. Seems to be a theme this year.

Looking forward to this race a lot. Still have recordings of every session from last years race - can't bring myself to delete them

I have 19/21 full races from 2016, 20/20 full races from 2017, 21/21 full races 2018 and all the races so far this season. All from Sky.

So who is sadder?

P.S.  If anyone ever wants them send me a flash drive and your address and I will gladly send them.

With the F1 TV you get them all in a online archive, going back to even 1981.
So, just delete them I say.

[PapaofGags]

Naoki Yamamoto will make his Formula 1 weekend debut driving for Toro Rosso in the Japanese Grand Prix’s first Friday practice session, as predicted by Motorsport.com.

Yamamoto will replace Pierre Gasly in FP1 at Suzuka this Friday, fulfilling Honda’s desire for a local driver to take part in the event the company supports financially.

The Honda-backed driver is fighting for a second Super Formula title in a row and will return to Suzuka at the end of October for the final round of Japan’s premier single-seater series.

Yamamoto has driven Toro Rosso’s simulator and spent time with the team at European races earlier in 2019 to get to know its engineering staff.

Usually a driver who wants to take part in FP1 would apply for a free-practice only superlicence and complete 300km of running in an F1 car beforehand to qualifying.

However, as reigning Super Formula and Super GT champion Yamamoto comfortably satisfies the requirement for an outright F1 superlicence, which he has obtained, simplifying the process.

Yamamoto said his FP1 outing would fulfill a childhood “dream” and that “to get this chance at Suzuka, a very important circuit for all Japanese racing drivers, in front of such a big crowd of Japanese fans, will make the experience even more special”.

[PapaofGags]

Hurricane threat over Japanese GP

Fears have been raised that the Japanese Grand Prix could be significantly disrupted as a super typhoon approaches the country. 

Storm Hagibis is approaching Japan and could disrupt not just this week's Formula 1 action, but also the Rugby World Cup, which is ongoing in the country. 

F1's former official meteorologist Steffen Dietz delivered a concerning update regarding the weather system on Monday morning.

Saturday is set to be the worst affected day, with qualifying potentially requiring rearrangement.

[morini]

Vettel already mathematically out of the WDC with a 5 races to go. That's a bloody poor performance in a capable car, sorry but it just is.

Did you watch the first half of the season M? 

So, I only just realised, quite some time after posting the complete gibbesrish above, Herr Vettel is actually still well and truly in the fight (I forgot about the extra point for fastest lap). He's only 128 behind with 130 available. Please accept my apologies Sebastian for writing you off too early!!

[forzaferrari]

The artificial grass at T15 of Suzuka has been removed and replaced with FIA/FIM double kerbing instead.

[NeilP]

Should have been done years ago. Good move.

---

Its okay Morini we are used to your gibberish by now!!!!

[morini]

Its okay Morini we are used to your gibberish by now!!!!

Naturalmente!

[Jody Barton]

Hmmm... double kerbs at turn 15 you say... that's 130R right? Not sure about that at all. See how severe it is but it was a potential disaster zone before.

[PapaofGags]

The Japanese Meteorology Agency says its latest forecasts are for the typhoon to hit Japan on Saturday and Sunday, bringing with it violent winds and heavy rain.

Current predictions are that Suzuka will face the worst of this on Saturday – although the exact timing and location of when the typhoon will make landfall is not yet certain.

However, early predictions suggest a 100mph wind speed at the typhoon’s centre – with gusts potentially reaching 140mph.

The impact of such weather would make it unlikely that track action could take place, which would mean a change to the Japanese GP timetable.

This happened in 2004 when qualifying was postponed until Sunday because of a typhoon.

The FIA has said it is carefully monitoring the weather situation, and working closely with the circuit organisers, the Japanese Automobile Federation and F1 to see if any action needs to take place and the timetable altered.

While indications earlier this week were that the typhoon could hit on Sunday, it is now looking likely that it will move through a day earlier than anticipated – which means the race will not be under threat.

[Monster Hesh]

A terribly dark day for F1 the last time they tried to race during a typhoon. Lessons have been learnt, if its as bad as they are predicting, the race will probably be cancelled.