Japanese GP: The F1 race should take place on Sunday
Threatened by a typhoon, the Japanese Grand Prix of Formula 1 is nevertheless expected to take place over three days. Indeed, the race should not be moved to Saturday but could occur earlier on Sunday.
According to British journalist Adam Cooper, the FIA has confirmed to the teams that the race, under the threat of Typhoon Phanfone, will indeed take place on Sunday and not Saturday as previously mentioned.
Scheduled for 3:00 PM in Japan, the race should, however, be moved earlier in the day (starting from 11:00 AM, for example) to allow a larger window for the race to take place. Indeed, as night falls at 5:30 PM, even when the weather is clear, there are significant risks of the Grand Prix being disrupted by weather conditions, with the risk of having to interrupt it before its conclusion.
Honda, which is promoting the race, is said to have vetoed the organization of the race on Saturday afternoon due to ticketing reasons. The FIA, however, was open to this idea.
Heavy rain is expected throughout the day on Sunday and the risk could potentially be that the race cannot be held at all in acceptable conditions. In this case, the authorities might have the cars complete a few laps behind the safety car before stopping the race and awarding half the available points (if the race does not exceed 75% of its length). Nevertheless, the worsening of conditions is mainly expected to occur in the afternoon and evening in Suzuka, just as the teams prepare for departure to Sochi, where the race will take place next Sunday.
