EL2 will form the grid in the event of cancellation of qualifying

This might just be the most interesting Friday afternoon of the season. After the cancellation of all activities planned at Suzuka on Saturday due to the threat posed by Typhoon Hagibis, qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix was postponed to Sunday morning, as was already the case in 2004 and 2010.

However, there remains the risk that the strong winds and heavy rains expected on Saturday will not have diminished sufficiently in intensity by then. In which case, the qualifying session could then simply be canceled. The regulation in F1 says nothing about such a scenario, the decision falling to the event commissioners under article 11.9.3.b of the FIA ​​international sporting code. 

The Suzuka officials quickly made a decision and decided to take the Free Practice 2 rankings to determine the starting grid if by chance qualifying could not take place. The various team managers present at the FIA ​​press conference this Friday lunchtime also recognized that it would be necessary to find the right balance between preparing for the race and setting a competitive time in the afternoon. 

In any case, this promises an exciting session to follow!