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| 2007 Japanese Grand Prix | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Race 15 of 17 in the2007 Formula One World Championship
| |||||
 Fuji Speedway | |||||
| Race details | |||||
| Date | September 30, 2007 | ||||
| Official name | 2007 Formula 1 Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix | ||||
| Location | Fuji Speedway,Oyama,Sunto District,Shizuoka,Japan | ||||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||||
| Course length | 4.563 km (2.835 miles) | ||||
| Distance | 67 laps, 305.416 km (189.777 miles) | ||||
| Weather | Very heavy rain | ||||
| Pole position | |||||
| Driver | McLaren-Mercedes | ||||
| Time | 1:25.368 | ||||
| Fastest lap | |||||
| Driver |  Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | |||
| Time | 1:28.193 on lap 27 | ||||
| Podium | |||||
| First | McLaren-Mercedes | ||||
| Second | Renault | ||||
| Third | Ferrari | ||||
Lap leaders | |||||
The2007 Japanese Grand Prix (officially the2007 Formula 1 Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix)[1] was aFormula Onemotor race held on 30 September 2007 at theFuji Speedway,Oyama, Shizuoka. The 67-lap race was the fifteenth round of the2007 FIA Formula One World Championship. It was held at the recently revised track in very heavy rain and misty conditions. For the previous 20 years, theJapanese Grand Prix had been held atSuzuka Circuit, but at this race it returned to Fuji for the first time since1977. The very wet race was won byMcLaren driverLewis Hamilton, who also took pole position and the fastest lap of the race.Heikki Kovalainen achieved his first podium, by finishing second for theRenault team (Renault's only podium that year), whilstKimi Räikkönen finished in third forFerrari.Adrian Sutil scored his first point andSpyker's first and only point by finishing ninth and being promoted to eighth after the race following a penalty forVitantonio Liuzzi.
As a consequence of the race, Hamilton extended his lead in theWorld Drivers' Championship to twelve points over McLaren teammateFernando Alonso. Alonso had only been two points behind Hamilton in the standings before he crashed during the race. Räikkönen's third-place finish ensured he remained in mathematical contention to clinch the drivers' title in the remaining two rounds. His Ferrari teammate,Felipe Massa, dropped out of championship contention after finishing the race in sixth position. Massa was now ten points behind Räikkönen. In theWorld Constructors' Championship, Ferrari were leading the standings on 170 points. McLaren would have been leading the table on 202 points had they not been given a penalty in the Hungarian Grand Prix, and then disqualified entirely due to theespionage controversy that year.BMW Sauber remained second in the standings, 78 points behind Ferrari, after scoring just two points in the race. Renault ensured that they would finish the year in third, (like BMW Sauber, they were unpassable by any other team), and were 41 points behind.
Lewis Hamilton ofMcLaren led the Drivers' Championship by two points from his team-mateFernando Alonso, who was a further 11 points ahead ofFerrari'sKimi Räikkönen. After McLaren'sexclusion from the Constructors' Championship, Ferrari had been confirmed as Constructors' Champions, following theirBelgian Grand Prix one-two. They were 71 points ahead ofBMW Sauber.
ThreeJapanese constructors and two Japanese drivers competed in the race.Toyota were 6th in the Constructors' Championship, whilstHonda were 8th, behind their own "B-team"Super Aguri.Takuma Sato was 15th in the Drivers' Championship for Super Aguri, whilst compatriotSakon Yamamoto had yet to score forSpyker F1, having debuted at theHungarian Grand Prix.
David Coulthard changed his helmet design for this race, choosing to use the helmet design of formerWorld Rally ChampionColin McRae, who had died two weeks before the race in a helicopter crash.
As with the 2006 race, the event was filmed and broadcast inhigh-definition byFuji Television for the domestic Japanese audience.
Although the weather had dried out by the time qualifying began, the track was still wet and all the drivers went out on wet tyres.
Qualifying one saw the twoSpykers ofAdrian Sutil andSakon Yamamoto and the twoSuper Aguris ofAnthony Davidson andTakuma Sato eliminated, along withAlexander Wurz in theWilliams andRubens Barrichello in theHonda.Ralf Schumacher'sToyota also collided with Yamamoto, forcing both drivers out of qualifying. Schumacher was already through to Q2, but could not set a time in the second session and so qualified 16th.
Qualifying two saw the elimination of the twoRenaults ofGiancarlo Fisichella andHeikki Kovalainen,David Coulthard'sRed Bull,Vitantonio Liuzzi'sToro Rosso and the Toyotas ofJarno Trulli and Schumacher.
Sebastian Vettel in the Toro Rosso andRobert Kubica in theBMW Sauber occupied row 5, just behindJenson Button, getting his best qualifying of the season in the Honda, andMark Webber's Red Bull.Nico Rosberg qualified 6th in the Williams, but was penalised ten places for an engine change. This meant that Vettel qualified eighth, the then best qualifying ever for Toro Rosso.Nick Heidfeld qualified 5th for BMW Sauber, and the top four was once again the twoMcLarens and twoFerraris. The Ferraris failed to get on the front row, withKimi Räikkönen andFelipe Massa 3rd and 4th respectively.Lewis Hamilton then pipped his more experienced McLaren teammateFernando Alonso to earn the fifth pole position of his career.
Due to torrential rainfall, the race was started behind thesafety car, which led the field for the first 19 laps.[2] The Ferraris of Kimi Räikkönen andFelipe Massa were forced to pit during the first few laps after starting on standard wet tyres, as opposed to "extreme wet" tyres, which were better-suited to the treacherously wet conditions. Ferrari bossJean Todt later stated that the team were not informed about the requirements prior to the race, although all other teams were.[3] During the initial safety car period, the FIA instructed the lapped driverVitantonio Liuzzi to pass the field and catch up to the back of the queue as quickly as he safely could, as a way of gauging whether the track was ready for the race to begin in earnest.
The Ferraris dropped back to 20th and 21st positions respectively following the pit stops, and Massa pitted again on lap 15. When the safety car finally left the circuit, the two McLarens began the race proper at the head of the field, in front of the quick-startingSebastian Vettel. TheToro Rosso driver had taken third place fromNick Heidfeld, after the latter andJenson Button's Honda collided.Mark Webber was in fourth by the first racing lap as a result of the collision,[3] despite still suffering from the after-effects of food poisoning, having earlier vomited into his helmet during the firstsafety car period.[4] A first-corner spin causedAlexander Wurz to collide heavily withFelipe Massa's Ferrari. Wurz's car sustained heavy damage and he retired on the spot.
Later in the race, Fernando Alonso crashed out, later blaming aquaplaning for the accident, which once again brought out the safety car. It was the first time that a McLaren car had failed to finish during the 2007 season. During this safety car period on lap 45, third-placed Sebastian Vettel crashed into the rear of second-placed Webber in the wet conditions, Webber retiring immediately and Vettel returning to the pits to retire. Vettel had earlier became theyoungest ever driver to lead a lap of a Formula One race (aged 20 years and 89 days) – his record was subsequently broken byMax Verstappen (aged 18 years and 228 days) at the2016 Spanish Grand Prix. The collision putHeikki Kovalainen'sRenault in second place, which he managed to hold until the end of the race, despite repeated overtaking attempts by Kimi Räikkönen. It was Kovalainen's first podium finish. Räikkönen would eventually finish third, ahead ofDavid Coulthard in fourth forRed Bull Racing. This was the first time that two Finnish drivers had both finished on the podium.[5]
On the final lap,Felipe Massa prevailed in his battle with BMW driverRobert Kubica. ThePole had previously served a drive through penalty for colliding with Hamilton. Massa finished sixth, and Kubica seventh, behindGiancarlo Fisichella's Renault.Vitantonio Liuzzi finished in eighth, scoring the first 2007 championship points for Toro Rosso.[3] However, these points were later removed when Liuzzi was penalised for overtaking Adrian Sutil under waved yellow flags. This promoted Sutil to eighth, giving him and the Spyker team their first and only F1 points.
Following the race,Sebastian Vettel received a 10-place penalty for thenext race inShanghai,China, for causing the collision withMark Webber which put both drivers out of the race, but his punishment was later reduced to a reprimand when new evidence was presented to the FIA, prompting it to begin an investigation ofLewis Hamilton for dangerous driving and causing the collision himself. Hamilton was leading the race right in front of Webber, before suddenly braking and forcing Webber to follow suit lest he be penalised for overtaking behind the safety car, potentially causing Vettel's car to run into the back of Webber. Hamilton might have faced either disqualification or a grid penalty for the next race,[6] but the FIA decided not to impose any penalty.[7]
The event was afflicted by poor transportation, poor facilities (including some reserved seats without a view), a lack of organization, and expensive meals that meant a simple lunch-box was sold for 10,000yen (US$87) at the circuit.[8][9]
The free practice session on Saturday was abandoned after repeated delays due tofog, which grounded the medical helicopter.[10][11] Only three drivers set a time in four minutes:Alexander Wurz (Williams-Toyota),Nico Rosberg (Williams-Toyota) andJarno Trulli (Toyota).[12]
Before the race, there were suggestions that the plan of carrying all of the 100,000 or more spectators only by shuttle bus would be impossible. To relieve people's doubts, the circuit announced that there was complete preparation for the race.[13] These doubts were realised when, after the qualifying session on Saturday, the shuttle buses could not leave because the road on the east gate of the circuit sank around 16:00. As a result, approximately 20,000 spectators were forced to stay for four hours or more until 21:00.[14][15][16] For the race on Sunday, only the shuttle bus was admitted for spectators as transport.[17]
On Sunday morning, the circuit announced that they would refund spectators who had bought seats in the reserved seat area on 'C' stand, near the first corner. This was due to the low visibility which meant that the cars on the racing line were not seen at all.[18] The cost of the tickets, 50,000yen (US$435), was scheduled to be reimbursed to 7,000 people who were in the stand. The total cost of the refund was expected to be around 350 millionyen (US$3 million).[19][20][21] After the race on Sunday, the circuit held a press conference to apologise for problems and announced that they would refund another 85 spectators who did not arrive at the circuit until after the start of the race due to the delay of the shuttle bus. The circuit said that they would reimburse them for all the costs caused by watching the race: the transportation expenses, the hotel charges and the cost of the tickets.[19][22]
Fuji Speedway prohibited spectators from setting up flags and banners supporting teams and drivers,[23][24] with the exception of theToyota F1 team whose owner also owned the circuit.[25] Therefore, there were very few flags and banners in the event compared with other Grand Prix events.[18][26] After the event, Japanese media figures such asFuji TV F1 commentator Jun Imamiya, and Fuji TV F1 commentator and former mechanic forBenetton Formula Tetsuo Tsugawa criticised the organization of the circuit. Tsugawa mentioned:
...Although I have worked in Formula One for thirty years, this is the first time I have seen a Grand Prix race without seeing fans wave the flag ofFerrari. I think this is inexcusable. What I heard was Fuji Speedway prohibited flags and banners of F1 teams, but I saw a Toyota F1 flag in the stands of the Toyota-owned circuit.
The track later said the flags were not prohibited, but there was a miscommunication between the race organisers and the staff of the circuit. However, many fans familiar with Formula One noticed the strangeness of the circuit without the team banners. Why was this not solved on initial notice?[27]
However, the event was well received by visitors in the paddock.[28][29] Despite the problems and criticism, the team principal ofToyota F1,Tadashi Yamashina praised the event:
...I would like to say congratulations to Fuji Speedway for hosting this race for the first time in 30 years. The facilities here are excellent and the race was well organised.[30]
In 2009, the Japanese Grand Prix was held again at Suzuka, with the plan to alternate between the two circuits in subsequent years. It was suggested that this could help to prevent future shows of such flagrant parochialism.[31] However, Toyota later announced that the Japanese Grand Prix would not be held at Fuji Speedway any more, and the2008 Japanese Grand Prix was the last held at the circuit.[32]
On 16 June 2008, 109 spectators went toTokyo District Court and took an action against the circuit to claim total 32 million yen (US$295,500) in compensation for bad health and missing the race due to the problems with the shuttle buses.[33][34][needs update]
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 67 | 2:00:34.579 | 1 | 10 |
| 2 | 4 |  Heikki Kovalainen | Renault | 67 | +8.377 | 11 | 8 |
| 3 | 6 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 67 | +9.478 | 3 | 6 |
| 4 | 14 | David Coulthard | Red Bull-Renault | 67 | +20.297 | 12 | 5 |
| 5 | 3 |  Giancarlo Fisichella | Renault | 67 | +38.864 | 10 | 4 |
| 6 | 5 |  Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 67 | +49.042 | 4 | 3 |
| 7 | 10 |  Robert Kubica | BMW Sauber | 67 | +49.285 | 9 | 2 |
| 8 | 20 |  Adrian Sutil | Spyker-Ferrari | 67 | +1:00.129 | 19 | 1 |
| 91 | 18 | Vitantonio Liuzzi | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 67 | +1:20.622 | PL | |
| 10 | 8 | Rubens Barrichello | Honda | 67 | +1:28.342 | 16 | |
| 11 | 7 | Jenson Button | Honda | 66 | Suspension | 6 | |
| 12 | 21 |  Sakon Yamamoto | Spyker-Ferrari | 66 | +1 lap | 21 | |
| 13 | 12 | Jarno Trulli | Toyota | 66 | +1 lap | 13 | |
| 14 | 9 | Nick Heidfeld | BMW Sauber | 65 | Technical | 5 | |
| 15 | 22 | Takuma Sato | Super Aguri-Honda | 65 | Collision | 20 | |
| Ret | 11 | Ralf Schumacher | Toyota | 55 | Puncture | 14 | |
| Ret | 23 | Anthony Davidson | Super Aguri-Honda | 54 | Throttle | 18 | |
| Ret | 16 | Nico Rosberg | Williams-Toyota | 49 | Electronics | 15 | |
| Ret | 19 | Sebastian Vettel | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 46 | Collision damage | 8 | |
| Ret | 15 |  Mark Webber | Red Bull-Renault | 45 | Collision | 7 | |
| Ret | 1 |  Fernando Alonso | McLaren-Mercedes | 41 | Accident | 2 | |
| Ret | 17 |  Alexander Wurz | Williams-Toyota | 19 | Collision | 17 | |
| Source:[38] | |||||||
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35°22′18″N138°55′36″E / 35.37167°N 138.92667°E /35.37167; 138.92667
