2013 Japanese Grand Prix

Report

Background

Tyre supplier Pirelli brought its Orange-banded hard compound tyre as the harder "prime" tyre and the White-banded Medium compound tyre as the softer "option" tyre, as opposed to the previous year where hard and soft selection were provided. Jules Bianchi and Charles Pic were each given ten-place grid penalties after stewards found they had been speeding behind the safety car at the previous round in Korea. Both drivers were reprimanded for their actions, and automatically received a ten-place grid penalty as it was their third reprimand of the season.

Free practice

Free Practice 1 saw Heikki Kovalainen drive for Caterham, in place of Charles Pic. The session was not without incident, as both Jules Bianchi (Marussia), Giedo van der Garde (Caterham) both went off at the exit of the second Degner corner. As a result of his accident, Bianchi was forced to sit out of Free Practice 2, while his car was repaired. Pastor Maldonado suffered a loose wheel up at Spoon Curve. Williams were later fined €60,000 for failing to attach the wheel properly. Lewis Hamilton set the fastest lap of the session, with teammate Nico Rosberg behind him.

Free Practice 2 saw Pastor Maldonado also going off at the second Degner corner, where he became stuck in the gravel. Sergio Pérez lost control of his McLaren going into Spoon, and slid backwards and made heavy contact with the tyre barrier. Fernando Alonso spun at the second Degner corner, but he was able to continue. Kimi Räikkönen spun into the gravel trap at the Dunlop corner and was forced to end his session. This time championship leader Sebastian Vettel finished the session fastest, with teammate Mark Webber behind him.

Qualifying

In a first, Charles Pic was given a drive-through penalty for leaving the pits when the red light was displayed at the pit exit during qualifying. The penalty was to be served during the first five laps of the race.

Race

At the start, Romain Grosjean made a superb start to lead into the first corner, behind him there was drama with Sebastian Vettel making contact with Lewis Hamilton causing the latter to have a puncture, also there was a collision between the Marussia of Jules Bianchi and the Caterham of Giedo van der Garde sending both cars into the barriers at the first corner, fortunately both cars were removed quickly so no safety car was needed. Hamilton pitted to change his punctured tyre but retired on lap 7 with floor damage. Grosjean led until the pit stops but careful tyre management from Vettel during the second phase of the race meant he was able to pass Grosjean and go on to win the race. On the penultimate lap Mark Webber then caught and passed Grosjean to make it a Red Bull 1-2, with Grosjean having to settle for 3rd. Fernando Alonso claimed 4th with Nico Hülkenberg in fifth. Kimi Räikkönen managed 6th although he was some 40 seconds behind his teammate Grosjean. Esteban Gutierrez had the strongest race of his career with 7th beating Nico Rosberg who had to serve a drive through penalty for an unsafe release in the pits.

Classification

Qualifying

Notes:

— Adrian Sutil received a five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change. However, he chose to be demoted two-five places for causing a deliberate accident at the previous race.

— Charles Pic and Jules Bianchi received ten-place grid penalties for receiving three reprimands over the season. However, due to Sutil's grid penalty Pic and Bianchi were promoted to 20th and 21st respectively.

Race

Championship standings after the race

;Drivers' Championship standings

;Constructors' Championship standings

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
• Bold text and an asterisk shows drivers or teams that still had a mathematical chance of winning the championship.

References

References

1. "2013 Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix". [[Formula One Group.
2. (5 October 2022). "Formula 1 Honda Japanese Grand Prix 2022 – Media Kit". [[Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile]].
3. "FIA Formula One calendar". Fedération Internationale de l'Automobile.
4. (13 October 2013). "Japanese Grand Prix: as it happened". BBC Sport.
5. (13 October 2013). "Vettel Wins Japanese Grand Prix to Close in on Title". The New York Times.
6. (13 October 2013). "Japanese Grand Prix 2013: live". The Daily Telegraph.
7. (13 October 2013). "Sebastian Vettel wins Japanese Grand Prix but must wait for title". Guardian UK.
8. (12 October 2013). "Pic given drive-through penalty for race". f1fanatic.co.uk.
9. Galloway, James. (13 October 2013). "2013 Japanese GP: Sebastian Vettel does it again - but Webber, Grosjean make him work".
10. (12 October 2013). "2013 Japanese Grand Prix qualifying results". [[Formula One Group.
11. (13 October 2013). "2013 Japanese Grand Prix Results". [[British Broadcasting Corporation]].
12. (13 October 2013). "2013 Japanese Grand Prix Results". [[Formula One Group.
13. "Japan 2013 - Championship • STATS F1".