2018 Japanese Grand Prix: F1 Race, Qualifying & Winners

Lewis Hamilton took another major step towards a fifth world title with a commanding Japanese Grand Prix victory. Mercedes secured a one-two at Suzuka as Sebastian Vettel‘s recovery drive was derailed by contact with Max Verstappen.

Pole position
Driver	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes
Time	1:27.760
Fastest lap
Driver	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari
Time	1:32.318 on lap 53
Podium
First	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes
Second	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes
Third	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing

Weekend Schedule

Date	Session	Local Time
5 October 2018	Practice 1	10:00 – 11:30
5 October 2018	Practice 2	14:00 – 15:30
6 October 2018	Practice 3	12:00 – 13:00
6 October 2018	Qualifying	15:00 – 16:00
7 October 2018	Race	14:10

All times are local (UTC+09:00). The race time is the scheduled start.

Championship background

Lewis Hamilton arrived at the Suzuka International Racing Course 50 points clear of Sebastian Vettel in the 2018 F1 World Championship. Ferrari needed a sharp change in momentum, while Mercedes had the opportunity to put the title almost beyond reach.

Race entries

All 20 regular drivers contested the weekend. Lando Norris took Stoffel Vandoorne‘s McLaren for FP1 before the Belgian returned for the remaining sessions.

Free Practice

Lewis Hamilton opened with a 1:28.691, leading Valtteri Bottas by 0.446 seconds. Daniel Ricciardo placed third as Mercedes immediately looked comfortable through Suzuka‘s fast changes of direction.

The same two Mercedes drivers headed FP2. Lewis Hamilton improved to 1:28.217, with Valtteri Bottas second and Sebastian Vettel third, more than eight-tenths behind the leader.

Ferrari closed the gap in FP3, but Lewis Hamilton remained fastest on 1:29.599. Sebastian Vettel was 0.116 seconds away in second, followed by Kimi Räikkönen.

Free Practice 1 Classification

2018 Japanese Grand Prix FP1, 5 October 2018

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:28.691	25
2	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	+0.446s	26
3	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing	+0.682s	32
4	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	+0.936s	20
5	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	+0.994s	20
6	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	+1.150s	30
7	31	Esteban Ocon	Racing Point Force India	+1.900s	28
8	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas	+2.123s	22
9	16	Charles Leclerc	Sauber	+2.238s	27
10	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber	+2.382s	29
11	10	Pierre Gasly	Toro Rosso	+2.382s	20
12	55	Carlos Sainz	Renault	+2.409s	23
13	11	Sergio Perez	Racing Point Force India	+2.581s	29
14	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	+2.583s	28
15	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Renault	+2.727s	18
16	18	Lance Stroll	Williams	+2.817s	27
17	28	Brendon Hartley	Toro Rosso	+3.217s	23
18	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	+3.343s	21
19	35	Sergey Sirotkin	Williams	+3.822s	26
20	47	Lando Norris	McLaren	+3.992s	30

Free Practice 2 Classification

2018 Japanese Grand Prix FP2, 5 October 2018

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:28.217	31
2	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	+0.461s	30
3	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	+0.833s	36
4	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	+1.040s	32
5	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	+1.281s	33
6	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing	+1.296s	27
7	31	Esteban Ocon	Racing Point Force India	+1.818s	32
8	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas	+2.223s	32
9	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber	+2.261s	33
10	28	Brendon Hartley	Toro Rosso	+2.285s	27
11	11	Sergio Perez	Racing Point Force India	+2.293s	28
12	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Renault	+2.427s	36
13	10	Pierre Gasly	Toro Rosso	+2.578s	10
14	55	Carlos Sainz	Renault	+2.687s	31
15	16	Charles Leclerc	Sauber	+2.689s	26
16	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	+2.739s	25
17	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	+2.771s	34
18	35	Sergey Sirotkin	Williams	+2.870s	39
19	18	Lance Stroll	Williams	+2.998s	32
20	2	Stoffel Vandoorne	McLaren	+3.764s	32

Free Practice 3 Classification

2018 Japanese Grand Prix FP3, 6 October 2018

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:29.599	13
2	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	+0.116s	14
3	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	+0.455s	13
4	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	+0.705s	13
5	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	+0.823s	13
6	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing	+0.875s	10
7	31	Esteban Ocon	Racing Point Force India	+1.489s	12
8	11	Sergio Perez	Racing Point Force India	+1.884s	12
9	55	Carlos Sainz	Renault	+1.914s	14
10	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	+1.922s	13
11	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas	+2.037s	14
12	16	Charles Leclerc	Sauber	+2.161s	14
13	28	Brendon Hartley	Toro Rosso	+2.431s	13
14	18	Lance Stroll	Williams	+2.602s	14
15	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Renault	+2.625s	12
16	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber	+2.843s	10
17	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	+3.009s	14
18	35	Sergey Sirotkin	Williams	+3.032s	14
19	2	Stoffel Vandoorne	McLaren	+3.435s	13
20	10	Pierre Gasly	Toro Rosso	+3.506s	10

Qualifying

Lewis Hamilton claimed his 80th career pole with a 1:27.760 as Valtteri Bottas completed the front row. Ferrari began Q3 on intermediate tyres while its rivals used slicks, then had to change course before heavier rain arrived. Sebastian Vettel made a mistake on his flying lap and qualified ninth.

Max Verstappen took third ahead of Kimi Räikkönen and Romain Grosjean. Brendon Hartley produced a career-best sixth, with Pierre Gasly seventh. Esteban Ocon‘s penalty promoted Vettel to eighth on the grid, while a technical problem left Daniel Ricciardo without a Q2 time.

Qualifying Classification

2018 Japanese Grand Prix Qualifying, 6 October 2018

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Laps
1	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:28.702	1:28.017	1:27.760	11
2	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	1:29.297	1:27.987	1:28.059	12
3	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	1:29.480	1:28.849	1:29.057	10
4	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	1:29.631	1:28.595	1:29.521	13
5	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas	1:29.724	1:29.678	1:29.761	17
6	28	Brendon Hartley	Toro Rosso	1:30.248	1:29.848	1:30.023	15
7	10	Pierre Gasly	Toro Rosso	1:30.137	1:29.810	1:30.093	15
8	31	Esteban Ocon	Racing Point Force India	1:29.899	1:29.538	1:30.126	13
9	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	1:29.049	1:28.279	1:32.192	13
10	11	Sergio Perez	Racing Point Force India	1:30.247	1:29.567	1:37.229	16
11	16	Charles Leclerc	Sauber	1:29.706	1:29.864	—	12
12	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	1:30.219	1:30.226	—	13
13	55	Carlos Sainz	Renault	1:30.236	1:30.490	—	12
14	18	Lance Stroll	Williams	1:30.317	1:30.714	—	10
15	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing	1:29.806	No time	—	4
16	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Renault	1:30.361	—	—	7
17	35	Sergey Sirotkin	Williams	1:30.372	—	—	8
18	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	1:30.573	—	—	6
19	2	Stoffel Vandoorne	McLaren	1:31.041	—	—	10
20	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber	1:31.213	—	—	4

Esteban Ocon received a three-place grid penalty for failing to slow sufficiently during a red flag period in FP3.

Marcus Ericsson received a 15-place grid penalty: 10 places for a power-unit change and 5 places for an unscheduled gearbox change.

What happened in the 2018 Japanese Grand Prix?

Lewis Hamilton made a clean start and quickly established control ahead of Valtteri Bottas. Further back, Sebastian Vettel climbed through the opening corners to put himself back in contention for a podium.

Max Verstappen ran wide at the final chicane and made contact with Kimi Räikkönen as he rejoined, earning a five-second penalty. A separate incident between Kevin Magnussen and Charles Leclerc left debris on the circuit and brought out the safety car.

After the restart, Sebastian Vettel attacked Max Verstappen at Spoon on lap eight. The pair touched and Vettel spun, dropping towards the back and leaving the Ferrari driver facing another long recovery.

Lewis Hamilton kept the race firmly under control. Valtteri Bottas had a more demanding afternoon, with Max Verstappen closing in, but held on to second to complete another Mercedes one-two.

Daniel Ricciardo charged from 15th on the grid to fourth, finishing ahead of Kimi Räikkönen. Sebastian Vettel recovered to sixth and set the fastest lap, which carried no championship point under the 2018 rules.

Sergio Perez, Romain Grosjean and Esteban Ocon followed, while Carlos Sainz took the final point after passing Pierre Gasly late on. Neither Toro Rosso scored despite its excellent qualifying performance. Hamilton’s victory increased his title advantage to 67 points with four races remaining.

2018 Japanese Grand Prix race results

The 2018 Japanese Grand Prix was held on 7 October 2018, with a scheduled start of 14:10 local time.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time / Retired	Pts.
1	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	53	1:27:17.062	25
2	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	53	+12.919s	18
3	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	53	+14.295s	15
4	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing	53	+19.495s	12
5	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	53	+50.998s	10
6	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	53	+69.873s	8
7	11	Sergio Perez	Racing Point Force India	53	+79.379s	6
8	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas	53	+87.198s	4
9	31	Esteban Ocon	Racing Point Force India	53	+88.055s	2
10	55	Carlos Sainz	Renault	52	+1 lap	1
11	10	Pierre Gasly	Toro Rosso	52	+1 lap	0
12	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber	52	+1 lap	0
13	28	Brendon Hartley	Toro Rosso	52	+1 lap	0
14	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	52	+1 lap	0
15	2	Stoffel Vandoorne	McLaren	52	+1 lap	0
16	35	Sergey Sirotkin	Williams	52	+1 lap	0
17	18	Lance Stroll	Williams	52	+1 lap	0
Ret	16	Charles Leclerc	Sauber	38	Mechanical	0
Ret	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Renault	37	Engine	0
Ret	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	8	Collision damage	0

2018 Japanese Grand Prix Fastest Laps

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Lap	Time of Day	Time	Avg. Speed
1	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	53	15:41:58	1:32.318	226.447
2	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	51	15:37:41	1:32.785	225.307
3	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	46	15:30:04	1:33.110	224.521
4	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing	50	15:36:27	1:33.187	224.336
5	18	Lance Stroll	Williams	41	15:24:20	1:33.354	223.934
6	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	50	15:36:21	1:33.367	223.903
7	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	28	15:02:31	1:33.943	222.530
8	35	Sergey Sirotkin	Williams	41	15:24:10	1:33.985	222.431
9	11	Sergio Perez	Racing Point Force India	43	15:26:24	1:34.073	222.223
10	10	Pierre Gasly	Toro Rosso	35	15:13:33	1:34.133	222.081
11	55	Carlos Sainz	Renault	50	15:37:47	1:34.197	221.930
12	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	28	15:01:39	1:34.223	221.869
13	16	Charles Leclerc	Sauber	37	15:17:14	1:34.515	221.183
14	31	Esteban Ocon	Racing Point Force India	50	15:37:32	1:34.670	220.821
15	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas	47	15:32:46	1:34.786	220.551
16	28	Brendon Hartley	Toro Rosso	30	15:05:40	1:34.857	220.386
17	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Renault	32	15:09:06	1:34.934	220.207
18	2	Stoffel Vandoorne	McLaren	25	14:57:45	1:35.023	220.001
19	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber	8	14:29:39	1:36.294	217.097
20	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	6	14:26:55	1:39.908	209.244

Only drivers with a recorded lap time appear in this table. Time of Day is local time; average speeds are in km/h. No championship point was awarded for fastest lap in 2018.

2018 Post-Race F1 Championship Standings

Championship standings for drivers and teams after the 2018 Japanese Grand Prix.

2018 Post-Race F1 Drivers' Championship Standings

POS	Driver	Nationality	Car	PTS
1	Lewis Hamilton	GBR	Mercedes	331
2	Sebastian Vettel	GER	Ferrari	264
3	Valtteri Bottas	FIN	Mercedes	207
4	Kimi Räikkönen	FIN	Ferrari	196
5	Max Verstappen	NED	Red Bull Racing	173
6	Daniel Ricciardo	AUS	Red Bull Racing	146
7	Sergio Perez	MEX	Force India / Racing Point Force India	53
8	Kevin Magnussen	DEN	Haas	53
9	Nico Hulkenberg	GER	Renault	53
10	Fernando Alonso	ESP	McLaren	50
11	Esteban Ocon	FRA	Force India / Racing Point Force India	49
12	Carlos Sainz	ESP	Renault	39
13	Romain Grosjean	FRA	Haas	31
14	Pierre Gasly	FRA	Toro Rosso	28
15	Charles Leclerc	MON	Sauber	21
16	Stoffel Vandoorne	BEL	McLaren	8
17	Lance Stroll	CAN	Williams	6
18	Marcus Ericsson	SWE	Sauber	6
19	Brendon Hartley	NZL	Toro Rosso	2
20	Sergey Sirotkin	RUS	Williams	1

2018 Post-Race F1 Constructors' Championship Standings

POS	Car	PTS
1	Mercedes	538
2	Ferrari	460
3	Red Bull Racing	319
4	Renault	92
5	Haas	84
6	McLaren	58
7	Racing Point Force India	43
8	Toro Rosso	30
9	Sauber	27
10	Williams	7
EX	Force India	0

The original Force India entry was excluded from the championship before the Belgian Grand Prix and its 59 constructors’ points were forfeited. Racing Point Force India entered as a new constructor from Belgium; the drivers retained their points.

2018 Formula 1 Race Calendar

Round	Grand Prix	Circuit	Date
1	2018 Australian Grand Prix	Albert Park Circuit, Melbourne	25 March
2	2018 Bahrain Grand Prix	Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir	8 April
3	2018 Chinese Grand Prix	Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai	15 April
4	2018 Azerbaijan Grand Prix	Baku City Circuit, Baku	29 April
5	2018 Spanish Grand Prix	Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Montmeló	13 May
6	2018 Monaco Grand Prix	Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo	27 May
7	2018 Canadian Grand Prix	Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve, Montréal	10 June
8	2018 French Grand Prix	Circuit Paul Ricard, Le Castellet	24 June
9	2018 Austrian Grand Prix	Red Bull Ring, Spielberg	1 July
10	2018 British Grand Prix	Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone	8 July
11	2018 German Grand Prix	Hockenheimring, Hockenheim	22 July
12	2018 Hungarian Grand Prix	Hungaroring, Mogyoród	29 July
13	2018 Belgian Grand Prix	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot	26 August
14	2018 Italian Grand Prix	Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Monza	2 September
15	2018 Singapore Grand Prix	Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore	16 September
16	2018 Russian Grand Prix	Sochi Autodrom, Sochi	30 September
17	2018 Japanese Grand Prix	Suzuka International Racing Course, Suzuka	7 October
18	2018 United States Grand Prix	Circuit of the Americas, Austin, Texas	21 October
19	2018 Mexican Grand Prix	Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, Mexico City	28 October
20	2018 Brazilian Grand Prix	Autódromo José Carlos Pace, São Paulo	11 November
21	2018 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix	Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi	25 November