2017 Japanese Grand Prix: F1 Race, Qualifying & Winners

Lewis Hamilton tightened his grip on the championship with victory in Japan as Ferrari suffered another costly reliability setback. Max Verstappen pushed him to the finish, while Daniel Ricciardo made it a double Red Bull podium.

Result	Driver / Time	Team
Pole position	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes
Pole time	1:27.319
Fastest lap	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes
Fastest-lap time	1:33.144 on lap 50
First	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes
Second	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing
Third	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing

Weekend Schedule

Date	Session	Local Time
6 October 2017	Practice 1	10:00 – 11:30
6 October 2017	Practice 2	14:00 – 15:30
7 October 2017	Practice 3	12:00 – 13:00
7 October 2017	Qualifying	15:00
8 October 2017	Race	14:00

Championship background

Lewis Hamilton arrived at round 16 leading the 2017 F1 World Championship on 281 points, with Sebastian Vettel on 247. Mercedes headed the constructors’ standings with 503 points.

Race entries

The 10 teams kept the same race line-ups for the Japanese Grand Prix.

Free Practice

Sebastian Vettel led FP1 as teams hurried to complete dry running before forecast rain arrived. Carlos Sainz crashed heavily on the exit of the hairpin, bringing out red flags and costing valuable track time. The session resumed, but the rain finally reached the circuit in its closing minutes and sent drivers back to the garages.

Persistent rain left FP2 with very little action, and only five drivers recorded a lap time. Lewis Hamilton was fastest among them as those who ventured out used full wet tyres. Lance Stroll ran far off the circuit at Turn 1 but avoided the barriers, while Carlos Sainz returned after repairs to his earlier accident damage.

Valtteri Bottas set the fastest FP3 time before running wide at Spoon and hitting the barrier. Kimi Räikkönen then crashed at Degner 2, causing a second red flag and further repair work before qualifying. Despite the interruptions, Mercedes’ pace on soft tyres compared strongly with rivals using the supersoft compound.

Free Practice 1 Classification

2017 Japanese Grand Prix FP1, 6 October 2017

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	1:29.166	23
2	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	+0.211s	29
3	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing	+0.375s	27
4	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	+0.472s	22
5	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	+0.985s	30
6	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	+1.596s	26
7	31	Esteban Ocon	Force India	+1.733s	22
8	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Renault	+1.808s	24
9	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas	+1.866s	22
10	2	Stoffel Vandoorne	McLaren	+2.036s	24
11	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	+2.050s	15
12	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	+2.069s	19
13	11	Sergio Perez	Force India	+2.364s	23
14	18	Lance Stroll	Williams	+2.436s	22
15	30	Jolyon Palmer	Renault	+2.591s	22
16	19	Felipe Massa	Williams	+2.746s	20
17	55	Carlos Sainz	Toro Rosso	+3.086s	14
18	10	Pierre Gasly	Toro Rosso	+3.335s	18
19	94	Pascal Wehrlein	Sauber	+3.731s	29
20	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber	+4.231s	28

Free Practice 2 Classification

2017 Japanese Grand Prix FP2, 6 October 2017

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:48.719	4
2	31	Esteban Ocon	Force India	+0.799s	3
3	11	Sergio Perez	Force India	+2.626s	3
4	19	Felipe Massa	Williams	+3.427s	3
5	18	Lance Stroll	Williams	+3.624s	4
6	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	No time	1
7	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Renault	No time	1
8	30	Jolyon Palmer	Renault	No time	1
9	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber	No time	3
10	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	No time	1
11	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	No time	2
12	94	Pascal Wehrlein	Sauber	No time	2
13	55	Carlos Sainz	Toro Rosso	No time	1
14	2	Stoffel Vandoorne	McLaren	No time	1

Free Practice 3 Classification

2017 Japanese Grand Prix FP3, 7 October 2017

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	1:29.055	9
2	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	+0.014s	19
3	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	+0.324s	23
4	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	+0.855s	15
5	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing	+0.963s	13
6	31	Esteban Ocon	Force India	+1.054s	12
7	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Renault	+1.260s	19
8	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	+1.369s	13
9	11	Sergio Perez	Force India	+1.508s	12
10	30	Jolyon Palmer	Renault	+1.709s	22
11	19	Felipe Massa	Williams	+1.709s	21
12	2	Stoffel Vandoorne	McLaren	+1.715s	18
13	55	Carlos Sainz	Toro Rosso	+1.744s	23
14	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	+1.927s	12
15	18	Lance Stroll	Williams	+1.956s	20
16	10	Pierre Gasly	Toro Rosso	+2.298s	25
17	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas	+2.404s	13
18	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber	+3.524s	22
19	94	Pascal Wehrlein	Sauber	+3.643s	21
20	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	+4.907s	12

Qualifying

Lewis Hamilton headed qualifying for Mercedes, with Valtteri Bottas second and Sebastian Vettel third.

Lewis Hamilton took his first Suzuka pole. Gearbox penalties for Valtteri Bottas and Kimi Räikkönen changed the leading grid positions, while several other drivers also faced power-unit penalties.

Qualifying Classification

2017 Japanese Grand Prix Qualifying, 7 October 2017

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Laps
1	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:29.047	1:27.819	1:27.319	18
2	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	1:29.332	1:28.543	1:27.651	17
3	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	1:29.352	1:28.225	1:27.791	19
4	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing	1:29.475	1:28.935	1:28.306	13
5	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	1:29.181	1:28.747	1:28.332	12
6	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	1:29.163	1:29.079	1:28.498	15
7	31	Esteban Ocon	Force India	1:30.115	1:29.199	1:29.111	16
8	11	Sergio Pérez	Force India	1:29.696	1:29.343	1:29.260	17
9	19	Felipe Massa	Williams	1:30.352	1:29.687	1:29.480	16
10	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	1:30.525	1:29.749	1:30.687	13
11	2	Stoffel Vandoorne	McLaren	1:30.654	1:29.778	—	11
12	27	Nico Hülkenberg	Renault	1:30.252	1:29.879	—	10
13	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	1:30.774	1:29.972	—	11
14	30	Jolyon Palmer	Renault	1:30.516	1:30.022	—	10
15	55	Carlos Sainz	Toro Rosso	1:30.565	1:30.413	—	11
16	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas	1:30.849	—	—	5
17	10	Pierre Gasly	Toro Rosso	1:31.317	—	—	7
18	18	Lance Stroll	Williams	1:31.409	—	—	6
19	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber	1:31.597	—	—	7
20	94	Pascal Wehrlein	Sauber	1:31.885	—	—	7

Valtteri Bottas and Kimi Räikkönen received a 5-place grid penalty for an unscheduled gearbox change.

Fernando Alonso received a 35-place grid penalty and both Jolyon Palmer and Carlos Sainz received a 20-place grid penalty, all for exceeding their respective quota of power unit components.

What happened in the 2017 Japanese Grand Prix?

Ferrari mechanics worked on Sebastian Vettel‘s car before the start, but the problem was not resolved. Vettel immediately lost pace as Lewis Hamilton led away, and the Ferrari soon retired with a spark-plug-related issue.

Carlos Sainz crashed on the opening lap in his final Toro Rosso race, bringing out the safety car. Hamilton kept the lead through the restart, with Max Verstappen emerging as the strongest challenger.

Red Bull kept the pressure on through the pit-stop phase and the closing laps. Traffic made the finish more uncomfortable for Hamilton, but Verstappen could not find a way past and the Mercedes reached the flag in front.

Daniel Ricciardo completed the podium ahead of Valtteri Bottas and Kimi Räikkönen. Esteban Ocon finished sixth ahead of Sergio Perez, while Jolyon Palmer‘s final Renault appearance ended outside the points. Hamilton’s lead over Vettel grew to 59 points with four races remaining.

Further down the points places, Sergio Pérez, Kevin Magnussen, Romain Grosjean and Felipe Massa completed the scoring positions. Valtteri Bottas set the fastest lap, but no bonus point was awarded under the 2017 rules.

After the race, Lewis Hamilton headed the drivers’ standings with 306 points, followed by Sebastian Vettel on 247. Mercedes led the constructors’ table on 540, with Ferrari on 395.

2017 Japanese Grand Prix race results

The 2017 Japanese Grand Prix was held on 8 October 2017, with a scheduled start of 14:00 local time.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time / Retired	Pts.
1	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	53	1:27:31.194	25
2	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	53	+1.211	18
3	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing	53	+9.679	15
4	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	53	+10.580	12
5	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	53	+32.622	10
6	31	Esteban Ocon	Force India	53	+1:07.788	8
7	11	Sergio Pérez	Force India	53	+1:11.424	6
8	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	53	+1:28.953	4
9	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas	53	+1:29.883	2
10	19	Felipe Massa	Williams	52	+1 Lap	1
11	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	52	+1 Lap	0
12	30	Jolyon Palmer	Renault	52	+1 Lap	0
13	10	Pierre Gasly	Toro Rosso	52	+1 Lap	0
14	2	Stoffel Vandoorne	McLaren	52	+1 Lap	0
15	94	Pascal Wehrlein	Sauber	51	+2 Laps	0
Ret	18	Lance Stroll	Williams	45	Suspension	0
Ret	27	Nico Hülkenberg	Renault	40	Rear wing	0
Ret	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber	7	Accident	0
Ret	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	4	Spark plug	0
Ret	55	Carlos Sainz	Toro Rosso	0	Accident	0

2017 Japanese Grand Prix Fastest Laps

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Lap	Time of Day	Time	Avg. Speed
1	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	50	15:26:34	1:33.144	224.439
2	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	50	15:26:57	1:33.175	224.364
3	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing	52	15:29:40	1:33.694	223.122
4	2	Stoffel Vandoorne	McLaren	49	15:26:39	1:33.724	223.050
5	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	51	15:27:55	1:33.730	223.036
6	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	43	15:14:08	1:33.780	222.917
7	30	Jolyon Palmer	Renault	50	15:28:00	1:34.095	222.171
8	10	Pierre Gasly	Toro Rosso	45	15:18:58	1:34.533	221.141
9	18	Lance Stroll	Williams	37	15:06:22	1:34.548	221.106
10	11	Sergio Perez	Force India	23	14:43:09	1:34.744	220.649
11	31	Esteban Ocon	Force India	50	15:27:26	1:34.843	220.419
12	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	45	15:18:47	1:35.111	219.797
13	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	50	15:27:47	1:35.338	219.274
14	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas	50	15:27:47	1:35.347	219.253
15	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Renault	28	14:51:00	1:35.883	218.028
16	19	Felipe Massa	Williams	50	15:27:53	1:35.943	217.891
17	94	Pascal Wehrlein	Sauber	27	14:50:52	1:36.430	216.791
18	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber	7	14:16:28	1:38.596	212.028
19	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	2	14:07:19	2:06.457	165.314

Only drivers with a recorded lap time appear. Average speeds are in km/h. No fastest-lap bonus point was awarded. Time of Day is local.

2017 Post-Race F1 Championship Standings

Championship standings after the 2017 Japanese Grand Prix.

2017 Post-Race F1 Drivers’ Championship Standings

POS	Driver	Nationality	Car	PTS
1	Lewis Hamilton	British	Mercedes	306
2	Sebastian Vettel	German	Ferrari	247
3	Valtteri Bottas	Finnish	Mercedes	234
4	Daniel Ricciardo	Australian	Red Bull Racing	192
5	Kimi Räikkönen	Finnish	Ferrari	148
6	Max Verstappen	Dutch	Red Bull Racing	111
7	Sergio Pérez	Mexican	Force India	82
8	Esteban Ocon	French	Force India	65
9	Carlos Sainz	Spanish	Toro Rosso	48
10	Nico Hülkenberg	German	Renault	34
11	Felipe Massa	Brazilian	Williams	34
12	Lance Stroll	Canadian	Williams	32
13	Romain Grosjean	French	Haas	28
14	Kevin Magnussen	Danish	Haas	15
15	Stoffel Vandoorne	Belgian	McLaren	13
16	Fernando Alonso	Spanish	McLaren	10
17	Jolyon Palmer	British	Renault	8
18	Pascal Wehrlein	German	Sauber	5
19	Daniil Kvyat	Russian	Toro Rosso	4
20	Marcus Ericsson	Swedish	Sauber	0
21	Antonio Giovinazzi	Italian	Sauber	0
22	Pierre Gasly	French	Toro Rosso	0
–	Jenson Button	British	McLaren	0
–	Paul di Resta	British	Williams	0

2017 Post-Race F1 Constructors’ Championship Standings

POS	Car	PTS
1	Mercedes	540
2	Ferrari	395
3	Red Bull Racing	303
4	Force India	147
5	Williams	66
6	Toro Rosso	52
7	Haas	43
8	Renault	42
9	McLaren	23
10	Sauber	5

2017 Formula 1 Race Calendar

Round	Grand Prix	Circuit	Date
1	2017 Australian Grand Prix	Albert Park Circuit, Melbourne	26 March
2	2017 Chinese Grand Prix	Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai	9 April
3	2017 Bahrain Grand Prix	Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir	16 April
4	2017 Russian Grand Prix	Sochi Autodrom, Sochi	30 April
5	2017 Spanish Grand Prix	Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Montmeló	14 May
6	2017 Monaco Grand Prix	Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo	28 May
7	2017 Canadian Grand Prix	Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve, Montréal	11 June
8	2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix	Baku City Circuit, Baku	25 June
9	2017 Austrian Grand Prix	Red Bull Ring, Spielberg	9 July
10	2017 British Grand Prix	Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone	16 July
11	2017 Hungarian Grand Prix	Hungaroring, Mogyoród	30 July
12	2017 Belgian Grand Prix	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot	27 August
13	2017 Italian Grand Prix	Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza	3 September
14	2017 Singapore Grand Prix	Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore	17 September
15	2017 Malaysian Grand Prix	Sepang International Circuit, Sepang	1 October
16	2017 Japanese Grand Prix	Suzuka International Racing Course, Suzuka	8 October
17	2017 United States Grand Prix	Circuit of the Americas, Austin, Texas	22 October
18	2017 Mexican Grand Prix	Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, Mexico City	29 October
19	2017 Brazilian Grand Prix	Autódromo José Carlos Pace, São Paulo	12 November
20	2017 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix	Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi	26 November