2022 Japanese Grand Prix

The **2022 Japanese Grand Prix** was a Formula 1.5 motor race held on 9 October 2022 at the Suzuka International Racing Course in Suzuka, Japan.

## Background

The event was held across the weekend of the 7–9 October. It was the eighteenth round of the 2022 Formula 1.5 World Championship and the first time the event had been held since 2019, with the 2020 and 2021 races cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

### Championship Standings before the race

Going into the weekend, Lando Norris led the Drivers' Championship by 47 points from Esteban Ocon, second, and Fernando Alonso, third, by 77. Alpine team led the Constructors' Championship, leading McLaren by 49 points and Aston Martin by 206 points.

### Entrants

The drivers and teams were the same as the season entry list with no additional stand-in drivers for the race.

### Tyres

Tyre supplier Pirelli brought the C1, C2, and C3 tyre compounds (designated hard, medium, and soft, respectively) for teams to use at the event.

### Track Changes

The DRS detection point was moved further back, being positioned 40 metres (130 ft) after turn 15.

### Penalties

Williams' Nicholas Latifi carried a five-place grid penalty for causing a collision with Zhou Guanyu at the previous round, the Singapore Grand Prix.

## Practice

First practice was affected by wet conditions that saw Fernando Alonso top the session ahead of teammate Ocon and Kevin Magnussen. Mick Schumacher crashed in FP1 after the chequred flag, which resulted in him not participating in FP2. FP2 was once again in wet conditions, this time with Kevin Magnussen topping the session ahead of Alonso and Bottas. In the third and final session, which was dry, Alonso was on top again followed by Norris and Ocon.

## Race

The race started at 14:00 local time on 9 October 2022 under torrential rain, but was red-flagged on lap 2. A recovery vehicle was immediately dispatched, with several drivers passing the tractor at speed under double-yellow flags on the second lap. The deployment and position of the recovery vehicle on the track was incredibly controversial; AlphaTauri driver Pierre Gasly angrily remonstrated that "[he] could have killed [himself]" if he had lost control, even at reduced speed.

Gasly also attacked the deployment as "disrespectful" to the memory and family of his childhood friend Jules Bianchi, who suffered fatal injuries at the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix when his car crashed into a tractor recovering a beached driver at the Dunlop Curve. Bianchi's godson and Sainz's teammate Charles Leclerc also said that the sport should learn from Bianchi's death and not have similar issues in the future, and Bianchi's father Philippe wrote on Instagram that the race officials had "no respect" for either the life of the drivers or Bianchi's memory. The FIA has confirmed there will be an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the deployment of recovery vehicles at Suzuka.

The race resumed at 16:15 local time behind the safety car. Only twenty-eight laps were completed before the race was curtailed due it passing the three-hour time limit.

## Championship Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

  1

;Constructors' Championship standings

## External Links

1. ↑  The race was scheduled for 53 laps, however was ran over a reduced distance due to adverse weather
2. ↑  Pierre Gasly qualified 11th, but he was required to start the race from the pit lane due to modifications to a rear wing assembly, front wing ballast and the setup of the suspension.
3. ↑  Nicholas Latifi received a five-place grid penalty for causing a collision with Zhou Guanyu at the previous round. He gained a position as Gasly was required to start the race from the pit lane.
4. ↑  Pierre Gasly finished 12th, but he received a drive through converted to 20-second time penalty for speeding under red flag conditions.