To make matters worse, Typhoon Phanfone is due to hit mainland Japan with considerable force on Sunday and Monday. There has even been talk of changing the start time of the race, but at the moment, no decision has been made. Tomorrow’s qualifying is expected to be run in the dry.
Today we saw teams test the P Zero Orange hard and P Zero White medium tires Pirelli has nominated for the race. The Mercedes AMG drivers were once again the fastest, with Lewis Hamilton just managing to edge out teammate Nico Rosberg. The Brit posted a 1:35.078 while the German came in with a 1:35.318. Third fastest was Williams’ Valtteri Bottas.
There were also crashes and mechanical breakdowns today, which led to much more than usual yellow and even red flags being waved. Infiniti Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo and Caterham’s Kamui Kobayashi had the most dramatic accidents, fortunately without injury for either man. Another crash was suffered by Sauber's Esteban Gutierrez, who also had no injury.
Going into qualifying tomorrow and Sunday’s race, Lewis Hamilton leads the 2014 Drivers’ Championship with 241 points, with Nico Rosberg in second just three points behind the leader. In third place is Daniel Ricciardo who sits on 181 points. In the Constructors’ Championship, Mercedes AMG enjoys a total 479 points, followed by Infiniti Red Bull Racing in second with 305 points and Williams in third with 187 points.
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