2018 Japanese Grand Prix
09h
Thank you for following the session despite the early morning schedule. Don't leave AUTOhebdo.fr too quickly, the reactions of the top 3 as well as the Ferraris will be read during the day!
09h
Excellent performance from Romain Grosjean, 5th! The Frenchman will start ahead of Brendon Hartley, who achieved his best qualifying in F1 with the 6th time. Pierre Gasly will start the GP in 7th place, and beat his compatriot Esteban Ocon (8th).
09h
The rain is too intense in the first sector! The Ferraris will not improve their bad time!
08h
Bad lap for Kimi Räikkönen, who is more than a second and a half behind Valtteri Bottas! Sebastian Vettel made a driving error in Spoon, in the last sector.
08h
Valtteri Bottas is faster than Lewis Hamilton in the first sector.
08h
“It's dry, I'm going to come into the pits to put on the slick tires,” warns Sebastian Vettel on the radio. Bad strategy for the Scuderia therefore.
08h
Q3 begins now, in tricky conditions. The drivers come out of the pits on intermediate tires, even though the rain has eased.
08h
The times will no longer be improved despite the 2 minutes remaining. Here are the eliminated drivers: Charles Leclerc (11th), Kevin Magnussen (12th), Carlos Sainz Jr (13th), Lance Stroll (14th) and Daniel Ricciardo (15th, no time due to an engine problem)
08h
The rain gets more intense at the start of the second sector! Carlos Sainz Jr is forced to slow down.
08h
Pierre Gasly sets the 9th time, ahead of his teammate Brendon Hartley. Charles Leclerc is currently eliminated in 11th place.
08h
Kimi Räikkönen is six tenths behind Valtteri Bottas.
08h
Loss of power for Daniel Ricciardo at the entrance to the pit lane! The Red Bull driver is pushed towards his garage…
08h
The Finn drove 30 thousandths faster than Lewis Hamilton, and three tenths faster than Sebastian Vettel.
08h
Both Haas also chose soft tires.
08h
There are significant raindrops in the second sector, but the sun is shining.
08h
“I took too much speed into the corner, it’s very disappointing,” Marcus Ericsson explained to the media after his crash in Q1.
08h
Sergey Sirotkin (17th), Fernando Alonso (18th), Stoffel Vandoorne (19th) and Marcus Ericsson (20th) are also eliminated.
08h
We warn Sergio Pérez that the rain is coming into the pit lane!
08h
The cars leave for one last attempt in Q1.
08h
Three tenths behind Pierre Gasly is Fernando Alonso (McLaren, first eliminated), followed by Lance Stroll (Williams), Marcus Ericsson (Sauber), Sergey Sirotkin (Williams) and Stoffel Vandoorne.
