# 2017 Japanese Grand Prix

The 2017 Japanese Grand Prix (formally known as the 2017 Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on 8 October 2017 at the Suzuka International Racing Course in Suzuka in the Mie Prefecture, Japan. The race was the sixteenth round of the 2017 FIA Formula One World Championship and marked the forty-third running of the Japanese Grand Prix. The 2017 event was the thirty-third time that the race has been run as a World Championship event since the inaugural season in 1950, and the twenty-ninth time that a World Championship round had been held at Suzuka. This would also prove to be the last Grand Prix for Jolyon Palmer, as he was replaced by Carlos Sainz Jr. for the rest of the 2017 season. Sainz contested his last race for Toro Rosso before replacing Palmer at Renault.
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton entered the round with a thirty-four-point lead over Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel in the World Drivers' Championship. Hamilton's teammate Valtteri Bottas sat third, a further twenty-five points behind. In the World Constructors' Championship, Mercedes held a lead of one hundred and eighteen points over Ferrari, with Red Bull Racing a further one hundred and fifteen points behind in third place.

## Qualifying

| Pos. | Car no. | Driver | Constructor | Qualifying times | Qualifying times | Qualifying times | Final grid |
| Pos. | Car no. | Driver | Constructor | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Final grid |
| 1 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:29.047 | 1:27.819 | 1:27.319 | 1 |
| 2 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1:29.332 | 1:28.543 | 1:27.651 | 6 |
| 3 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1:29.352 | 1:28.225 | 1:27.791 | 2 |
| 4 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer | 1:29.475 | 1:28.935 | 1:28.306 | 3 |
| 5 | 33 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer | 1:29.181 | 1:28.747 | 1:28.332 | 4 |
| 6 | 7 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 1:29.163 | 1:29.079 | 1:28.498 | 10 |
| 7 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Force India-Mercedes | 1:30.115 | 1:29.199 | 1:29.111 | 5 |
| 8 | 11 | Sergio Pérez | Force India-Mercedes | 1:29.696 | 1:29.343 | 1:29.260 | 7 |
| 9 | 19 | Felipe Massa | Williams-Mercedes | 1:30.352 | 1:29.687 | 1:29.480 | 8 |
| 10 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren-Honda | 1:30.525 | 1:29.749 | 1:30.687 | 20 |
| 11 | 2 | Stoffel Vandoorne | McLaren-Honda | 1:30.654 | 1:29.778 | | 9 |
| 12 | 27 | Nico Hülkenberg | Renault | 1:30.252 | 1:29.879 | | 11 |
| 13 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas-Ferrari | 1:30.774 | 1:29.972 | | 12 |
| 14 | 30 | Jolyon Palmer | Renault | 1:30.516 | 1:30.022 | | 18 |
| 15 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | Toro Rosso | 1:30.565 | 1:30.413 | | 19 |
| 16 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Haas-Ferrari | 1:30.849 | | | 13 |
| 17 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Toro Rosso | 1:31.317 | | | 14 |
| 18 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Williams-Mercedes | 1:31.409 | | | 15 |
| 19 | 9 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:31.597 | | | 16 |
| 20 | 94 | Pascal Wehrlein | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:31.885 | | | 17 |
| 107% time: 1:35.280 ||||||||
| Source: ||||||||

### Notes

* ^1 – Valtteri Bottas and Kimi Räikkönen received a 5-place grid penalty for an unscheduled gearbox change.
* ^2 – Fernando Alonso received a 35-place grid penalty and both Jolyon Palmer and Carlos Sainz Jr. received a 20-place grid penalty, all for exceeding their respective quota of power unit components.

## Race

Before the race started Sebastian Vettel's mechanics were working on his car. When the race started it was clear he had some serious issues with the car losing positions immediately as Lewis Hamilton led away. Carlos Sainz had an accident on the opening lap, with the safety car being deployed. Soon after the race restarted Vettel retired with engine problems. Hamilton took the victory, followed home closely by Max Verstappen with his teammate Daniel Ricciardo finishing 3rd, Valtteri Bottas was fourth and Kimi Räikkönen fifth.

### Race classification

| Pos. | No. | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
| 1 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 53 | 1:27:31.194 | 1 | 25 |
| 2 | 33 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer | 53 | +1.211 | 4 | 18 |
| 3 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer | 53 | +9.679 | 3 | 15 |
| 4 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 53 | +10.580 | 6 | 12 |
| 5 | 7 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 53 | +32.622 | 10 | 10 |
| 6 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Force India-Mercedes | 53 | +1:07.788 | 5 | 8 |
| 7 | 11 | Sergio Pérez | Force India-Mercedes | 53 | +1:11.424 | 7 | 6 |
| 8 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas-Ferrari | 53 | +1:28.953 | 12 | 4 |
| 9 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Haas-Ferrari | 53 | +1:29.883 | 13 | 2 |
| 10 | 19 | Felipe Massa | Williams-Mercedes | 52 | +1 Lap | 8 | 1 |
| 11 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren-Honda | 52 | +1 Lap | 20 | |
| 12 | 30 | Jolyon Palmer | Renault | 52 | +1 Lap | 18 | |
| 13 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Toro Rosso | 52 | +1 Lap | 14 | |
| 14 | 2 | Stoffel Vandoorne | McLaren-Honda | 52 | +1 Lap | 9 | |
| 15 | 94 | Pascal Wehrlein | Sauber-Ferrari | 51 | +2 Laps | 17 | |
| Ret | 18 | Lance Stroll | Williams-Mercedes | 45 | Suspension | 15 | |
| Ret | 27 | Nico Hülkenberg | Renault | 40 | Rear wing | 11 | |
| Ret | 9 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber-Ferrari | 7 | Accident | 16 | |
| Ret | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 4 | Spark plug | 2 | |
| Ret | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | Toro Rosso | 0 | Accident | 19 | |
| Source: ||||||||

## Championship standings after the race

| | Pos. | Driver | Points |
| | 1 | Lewis Hamilton* | 306 |
| | 2 | Sebastian Vettel* | 247 |
| | 3 | Valtteri Bottas* | 234 |
| | 4 | Daniel Ricciardo | 192 |
| | 5 | Kimi Räikkönen | 148 |
| Source: ||||
| | Pos. | Constructor | Points |
| | 1 | Mercedes* | 540 |
| | 2 | Ferrari* | 395 |
| | 3 | Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer | 303 |
| | 4 | Force India-Mercedes | 147 |
| | 5 | Williams-Mercedes | 66 |
| Source: ||||
* Note: Only the top five positions are included for the sets of standings.
* Bold text and an asterisk indicates competitors who still had a theoretical chance of becoming World Champion.