Lewis Hamilton was unhappy with his Japanese Grand Prix strategy, pointing out he could have finished the race without having to make a second pit stop.
Is he right? On the face of it, it was a realistic strategy. Other drivers who, like Hamilton, started on the soft tyres, were able to run to the end of a set of mediums. However Pierre Gasly was the only one who began the race on used rubber, rather than new, as Hamilton did.If Hamilton had stayed out he would have had to reduce his pace to ensure the mediums lasted until the end. Team principal Toto Wolff has confirmed Mercedes would have had told Hamilton to let Valtteri Bottas overtake him.
The question then would have been whether Hamilton would have been quick enough to keep Sebastian Vettel at bay. The concern for Mercedes was that medium compound rubber was degrading very quickly towards the end of its life, and Hamilton could have fallen victim to ‘the cliff’.
Even so, in that scenario he would likely have been far enough ahead of Alexander Albon to make an extra pit stop and still finish third, so you have to wonder why Mercedes didn’t at least try it. Particularly when you consider that Gasly, who was also coping with suspension damage, managed to keep a pair of quick cars behind him even when his lap times rose by up to two seconds at the end of the race.
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2019 Japanese Grand Prix lap chart
The positions of each driver on every lap. Click name to highlight, right-click to reset. Toggle drivers using controls below:
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2019 Japanese Grand Prix race chart
The gaps between each driver on every lap compared to the leader’s average lap time. Very large gaps omitted. Scroll to zoom, drag to pan and right-click to reset. Toggle drivers using controls below:
Position change
Driver | Start position | Lap one position change | Race position change |
---|---|---|---|
Lewis Hamilton | 4 | 0 | 1 |
Valtteri Bottas | 3 | 2 | 2 |
Sebastian Vettel | 1 | -1 | -1 |
Charles Leclerc | 2 | -1 | -4 |
Max Verstappen | 5 | -13 | |
Alexander Albon | 6 | -1 | 2 |
Daniel Ricciardo | 16 | 0 | 9 |
Nico Hulkenberg | 15 | 5 | 5 |
Romain Grosjean | 10 | -4 | -5 |
Kevin Magnussen | 19 | 6 | 2 |
Carlos Sainz Jnr | 7 | 2 | 2 |
Lando Norris | 8 | 2 | -5 |
Sergio Perez | 17 | 6 | 8 |
Lance Stroll | 12 | 3 | 1 |
Kimi Raikkonen | 13 | -2 | -1 |
Antonio Giovinazzi | 11 | -1 | -5 |
Daniil Kvyat | 14 | -3 | 2 |
Pierre Gasly | 9 | 1 | 1 |
George Russell | 18 | -1 | 0 |
Robert Kubica | 20 | 0 | 1 |
2019 Japanese Grand Prix lap times
All the lap times by the drivers (in seconds, very slow laps excluded). Scroll to zoom, drag to pan and toggle drivers using the control below:
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2019 Japanese Grand Prix fastest laps
Each driver’s fastest lap:
Rank | Driver | Car | Fastest lap | Gap | On lap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’30.983 | 45 | |
2 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1’31.611 | 0.628 | 48 |
3 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas-Ferrari | 1’31.732 | 0.749 | 49 |
4 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1’31.862 | 0.879 | 49 |
5 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1’32.122 | 1.139 | 38 |
6 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo-Ferrari | 1’32.369 | 1.386 | 51 |
7 | Sergio Perez | Racing Point-Mercedes | 1’32.621 | 1.638 | 46 |
8 | Alexander Albon | Red Bull-Honda | 1’32.775 | 1.792 | 36 |
9 | Kimi Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo-Ferrari | 1’33.190 | 2.207 | 50 |
10 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso-Honda | 1’33.239 | 2.256 | 47 |
11 | Daniel Ricciardo | Renault | 1’33.481 | 2.498 | 48 |
12 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | McLaren-Renault | 1’33.563 | 2.580 | 46 |
13 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Renault | 1’34.116 | 3.133 | 31 |
14 | Lance Stroll | Racing Point-Mercedes | 1’34.713 | 3.730 | 26 |
15 | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | 1’34.921 | 3.938 | 47 |
16 | Romain Grosjean | Haas-Ferrari | 1’34.988 | 4.005 | 18 |
17 | Pierre Gasly | Toro Rosso-Honda | 1’35.321 | 4.338 | 43 |
18 | George Russell | Williams-Mercedes | 1’35.458 | 4.475 | 27 |
19 | Robert Kubica | Williams-Mercedes | 1’36.332 | 5.349 | 44 |
20 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull-Honda | 1’37.249 | 6.266 | 10 |
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2019 Japanese Grand Prix tyre strategies
The tyre strategies for each driver:
Stint 1 | Stint 2 | Stint 3 | Stint 4 | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Valtteri Bottas | C3 (17) | C2 (19) | C3 (16) | |
Sebastian Vettel | C3 (16) | C3 (15) | C2 (21) | |
Lewis Hamilton | C3 (21) | C2 (21) | C3 (10) | |
Alexander Albon | C3 (15) | C2 (19) | C3 (18) | |
Carlos Sainz Jnr | C3 (26) | C2 (26) | ||
Charles Leclerc | C3 (3) | C2 (22) | C3 (21) | C3 (5) |
Daniel Ricciardo | C2 (29) | C3 (22) | ||
Pierre Gasly | C3 (18) | C2 (33) | ||
Sergio Perez | C3 (19) | C2 (22) | C3 (10) | |
Nico Hulkenberg | C3 (19) | C2 (32) | ||
Lance Stroll | C3 (18) | C2 (33) | ||
Daniil Kvyat | C3 (27) | C2 (24) | ||
Lando Norris | C3 (4) | C2 (21) | C1 (26) | |
Kimi Raikkonen | C2 (15) | C1 (21) | C3 (15) | |
Romain Grosjean | C3 (16) | C1 (35) | ||
Antonio Giovinazzi | C2 (18) | C1 (31) | C3 (2) | |
Kevin Magnussen | C2 (17) | C1 (30) | C3 (4) | |
George Russell | C2 (25) | C1 (25) | ||
Robert Kubica | C2 (22) | C1 (11) | C2 (17) | |
Max Verstappen | C3 (14) |
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2019 Japanese Grand Prix pit stop times
How long each driver’s pit stops took:
Driver | Team | Pit stop time | Gap | On lap | |
1 | Sergio Perez | Racing Point | 22.880 | 19 | |
2 | Robert Kubica | Williams | 22.970 | 0.090 | 33 |
3 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 23.000 | 0.120 | 17 |
4 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 23.157 | 0.277 | 36 |
5 | Kimi Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo | 23.164 | 0.284 | 36 |
6 | Pierre Gasly | Toro Rosso | 23.180 | 0.300 | 18 |
7 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 23.213 | 0.333 | 31 |
8 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 23.280 | 0.400 | 46 |
9 | Lance Stroll | Racing Point | 23.292 | 0.412 | 18 |
10 | Daniel Ricciardo | Renault | 23.292 | 0.412 | 29 |
11 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso | 23.293 | 0.413 | 27 |
12 | Alexander Albon | Red Bull | 23.301 | 0.421 | 34 |
13 | Sergio Perez | Racing Point | 23.301 | 0.421 | 41 |
14 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo | 23.351 | 0.471 | 18 |
15 | Alexander Albon | Red Bull | 23.354 | 0.474 | 15 |
16 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo | 23.412 | 0.532 | 49 |
17 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | McLaren | 23.476 | 0.596 | 26 |
18 | Romain Grosjean | Haas | 23.478 | 0.598 | 16 |
19 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 23.580 | 0.700 | 25 |
20 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 23.582 | 0.702 | 21 |
21 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 23.591 | 0.711 | 42 |
22 | George Russell | Williams | 23.792 | 0.912 | 25 |
23 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 23.949 | 1.069 | 25 |
24 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 23.973 | 1.093 | 47 |
25 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 24.032 | 1.152 | 16 |
26 | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | 24.132 | 1.252 | 19 |
27 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 24.156 | 1.276 | 17 |
28 | Kimi Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo | 24.468 | 1.588 | 15 |
29 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 25.347 | 2.467 | 4 |
30 | Robert Kubica | Williams | 26.734 | 3.854 | 22 |
31 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 30.502 | 7.622 | 3 |
2019 Japanese Grand Prix
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- Bottas admits “lucky” Suzuka start was aided by Vettel’s early move
- Leclerc: It would have been wrong not to penalise us in Japan
- Updated championship points and Japanese Grand Prix result following Renault’s disqualification
- Top ten pictures from the 2019 Japanese Grand Prix
Bulgarian (@bulgarian)
13th October 2019, 16:25
I hope Mercedes will learn from today’s mistakes. A 1-2 win was wasted. Still, congratulations for the 6th Constructor’s title!