Same as on the weekend when everyone was losing their shit already - nothing official, nothing new.
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No news today. Certificates will be issued on Monday. Let’s see how the rumour mill and the commentators handle this over the weekend in Suzuka.
The analysis of financial submissions is a long and complex process that is ongoing and will be concluded to enable the release of the Certificates on Monday, 10 October.
FIA Statement on Financial Regulations | Federation Internationale de l’Automobile
May as well put the whole thing here, it’s that short:
The FIA informs that the conclusion of the analysis of the 2021 financial submissions of the Formula 1 teams and the subsequent release of Certificates of Compliance to the Financial Regulations will not take place on Wednesday, 5 October.
The analysis of financial submissions is a long and complex process that is ongoing and will be concluded to enable the release of the Certificates on Monday, 10 October. The Financial Regulations were agreed unanimously by all Competitors, who have worked positively and collaboratively with the FIA Cost Cap Administration throughout this first year under the Financial Regulations.
As previously communicated, there has been significant and unsubstantiated speculation and conjecture in relation to this matter, and the FIA reiterates that until it is finalised, no further information will be provided. The FIA also reiterates that any suggestion that FIA personnel have disclosed sensitive information is equally baseless.
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fswqsgf430s91.jpg (1920×2687) (redd.it)
Gregedit with a slightly larger version of the image via Redditt
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man, that is beaut… or kirei to summon my weeb half
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2022 Formula 1 Grand Prix of Japan
Round 18 | Suzuka International Racing Course | Suzuka City | Mie Prefecture
Kon’nichiwa Nihon! It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Almost three years to the day in fact. And that was a very memorable race for VB77 and Mercedes. And pretty dramatic too - mostly for Leclerc.
A lot of the chitchat this weekend will again be on the delayed until Monday 2021 FIA Cost Cap Certification news that was due out yesterday. Which is sad because the speculation and rumour milling just generates more hyperbolic conspiracy nonsense the longer it’s allowed to fester. Also, it detracts from what should/could be an epic weekend of Grand Prix racing at a historic and epic circuit which has been missing from the F1 calendar for the past two years.
It’s Honda’s home circuit, Honda are returning as a brand to the sport with both Red Bull and AlphaTauri again sporting the Honda logo from this weekend until at least the end of the season.
It’s Yuki Tsunoda’s eventual dream debut home F1 Grand Prix, on a circuit that he knows very well.
“I drove Formula 4, I think it was four years ago I was driving here and last time in Suzuka I won here,” he said. “I really like Suzuka, I was driving here since 2016 and I’ve driving here more than 10,000 laps so I know a lot of tricks but it’s a lot different driving in F1. Still, I think one of the best tracks in my experience.”
He’ll not be short of a huge amount of home support from the always insanely passionate (and F1-starved) Japanese fans.
Oh, and there’s that other little thing where Max Verstappen could clinch his second Formula 1 World Drivers Championship title this weekend. The Red Bull Honda T-cam hard-hatted faithful are already proudly predicting that it’ll happen:
The Schedule
You have to be a truly dedicated F1 fan to be up with the rising sun here if you want to catch all the sessions from the Land of the Rising Sun this weekend.* Japan is 7 hours ahead of us, so we’ll need to accept a few early mornings if we want to. For those fortunate enough to have a tablet or laptop and a F1TV subscription, watch the Practice sessions in bed sounds like a plan.
*Load shedding schedules depending of course. I have 04:00-06:30 LS on both Friday and Saturday mornings, so I’ll be missing FP1 and FP3.
The Circuit
The Suzuka International Racing Course is a fan and driver favourite. (Seb says it’s a personally favourite and that he’d happily temporarily come out of retirement to race there again.)
When was the track built?
In 1962. Soichiro Honda, whose car company you may have heard of, was a man with big ambitions. Seeking to turn Honda into an automotive powerhouse, he decided his company should have its own test track. Dutchman John Hugenholtz got the nod, and drew up the now-iconic ‘crossover’ Suzuka track – although original drawings saw the track pass over and under itself a full three times, which would have been sweet!
When was its first Grand Prix?
Despite most people agreeing that Suzuka is a worthy successor to sliced bread in the ‘Best Thing’ stakes, the Japanese track was a relative latecomer to the F1 calendar, making its first appearance in 1987. Nigel Mansell would remember that weekend well, after he suffered a crash in qualifying that ruled him out of the race, gifting that year’s championship to his bitter rival Nelson Piquet.
What’s the circuit like?
Show us a racing a driver who doesn’t love Suzuka, and we’ll show you a liar. The high-speed track remains one of the ultimate driving challenges, with the snaking ‘S’ Curves, the two commitment-rewarding Degners and the white-knuckle ride of 130R all highlights in a series of highlights at what is one of F1’s seminal tracks. And hey, it’s got a crossover, which is always cool, right?
The Weather
After the humid damp (moist) and heavy rains in Singapore, it looks like we could have another rain affected race weekend in Suzuka. Friday practice will definitely we rainy, Saturday looks dry around Qualifying time, and there’s an upto 60% chance of “Brief Rain” through most of Sunday. Hopefully Pirelli have stocked up on their Intermediates.
The News
Lots of news other than the delayed FIA Cost Cap Certifications to keep an eye on this weekend. Like will Max be able to claim WDC title number 2 by the time the chequered flag falls on Sunday?
Keep up with all the official Japanese GP news on the F1 site.
The Digital Programme
Unfortunately, no digital programme for Japan it seems. Maybe it still needs to be uploaded, but they are usually up by now. Worth keeping an eye on the digital programme site and taking the opportunity to review some of the past race editions.
Subarashī! Sugoi! Nihon de rēsu Shiyou!
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So many great corners on this track! Legendary! But I totally suck at it!
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Gasly to Alpine, de Vries to AlphaTauri for 2023
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Very happy to see Gasly go to Alpine. Going to be exciting next year!
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Yes, but who will steal him the following year? Alpine needs better locks on their doors 
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Prepare for potential rain delays if you’re waking up early tomorrow morning to watch the race live…
(Also, who else also always types, thinks, searches for, says “Skukuza” every time when they mean Suzuka?
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HA! it only takes you once and then Google thinks you mean this every time!
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Ag Ferrari and their tyres… Bit of a weird one at the end there but expected that penalty, pity coz he defended so well only to throw it away at the end.
Well congrats to Max, World Champion. Was always going to happen though.
LOL reserving a room for the world champion and then he just have to wait. Sit there, lonely haha.
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another year what a weekend.
next four races will still be epic to watch !
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They really need to move the Japanese GP date to earlier in the year when rain is less likely. Or at the very least, schedule the race start much earlier in the day.
The Race Director putting recovery vehicles on the circuit, even with the double yellows - red flag, when the conditions were still so bad, is inexcusable. At that circuit especially. If it was dry then sure, but not in the rain.
That not a single broadcaster on Sky F1 or on F1TV, nor any of the pundits on Twitter, picked up on the half points only “if the race cannot be resumed” part of the rules is amusing as heck. That rule still needs to be tweaked though because as it is now, technically they could have sat in the pit lane until the 2 hours 50 minute point, gone out for 3-4 racing laps, and full points would be awarded.
Congratulations on WDC # 2 Max!
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Great summary, @GregRedd
Two points to add: 1) Gasly got a post race penatly as well, for speeding under red flag conditions. +20 seconds to an already terrible race makes him a unhappy man.
2) Apparently (I read on reddit, so apply pinches of salt) F1/Liberty have been trying to get the Japanese GP moved out of typhoon season since Liberty took over. Japan GP organizers are the ones refusing to budge.
I’m still pissed about the tractor on the track. A clip on reddit shows that the entire fields filed past, not just Gasly. Absolutely unacceptable.
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At least we saw some racing, I still say Ocon deserved driver of the day as much as I love Seb, Ocon was brilliant keeping lewis behind him.
The presenters need to study more.
The tractor on track seriously pissed me off and I feel they really penalised Gasly a bit unfairly, there was no warning of it.
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The only time tractors should be on track is if they are going to join the race
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