The Japanese Grand Prix 2018 was the 17th round of the 2018 F1 season, and took place at the Suzuka Circuit in Suzuka, Japan, on October 7th.
Lewis Hamilton won the race from the pole, followed by Valtteri Bottas, and Max Verstappen completing the podium.
Final results
Race evolution
Pit Stops
There were a total of 23 pit stops during the race.
The most popular pit stop windows were:
- Laps 23-24: 5 stops
- Laps 28-30: 4 stops
The fastest pit stop was Lewis Hamilton's, stopping the clock at 22.614 seconds during his pit stop on lap 24, while the slowest one was was Charles Leclerc's, who stopped the clock at 38.891 seconds, 16.277 seconds slower than Hamilton, during his pit stop on lap 4.
These times include the time the driver spent going through the pit lane, as well as the actual time he stopped for the mechanics to work on his car.
Strategy
We saw a variety of options in terms of pit stop strategies during this race, however most drivers chose a 1 stop. Only Charles Leclerc, Sergey Sirotkin and Lance Stroll decided to try something different with a 2 stops strategy.
The race winner, Lewis Hamilton, was on a 1 stop strategy.
1 stop
-
8Kevin Magnussen
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8Marcus Ericsson
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1Kimi Räikkönen
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-Max Verstappen
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-Valtteri Bottas
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11Daniel Ricciardo
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4Stoffel Vandoorne
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-Lewis Hamilton
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2Sergio Pérez
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2Esteban Ocon
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2Sebastian Vettel
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4Fernando Alonso
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7Brendon Hartley
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3Romain Grosjean
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4Pierre Gasly
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3Nico Hülkenberg
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3Carlos Sainz
2 stops
-
8Charles Leclerc
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1Sergey Sirotkin
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3Lance Stroll
Excluding those drivers who could not finish the race, those on a 1 stop strategy gained 1.4 positions on average, while those on a 2 stops strategy lost an average of 1 positions.
This difference in possitions gained, together with a deeper nalaysis of each strategy, reinforces the conclusion that a 1 stop strategy was the best option.
It is important to note that this might not always be the case for other races held at the Suzuka Circuit, as the conditions might change from year to year, in terms of wheel degradation, accidents, safety cars, etc.
Incidents
There race went on mostly with no incidents. Only 3 divers were involved in circumstances that were severe enough to prevented them from finishing the race.
These included, Charles Leclerc, who suffered from an unidentified mechanical problem on lap 38, Nico Hülkenberg, who suffered an engine malfunction on lap 37, and Kevin Magnussen, who retired dure to damage caused by a collision with other cars on lap 8.
Mechanical
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Charles LeclercLap 38
Engine
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Nico HülkenbergLap 37
Collision damage
-
Kevin MagnussenLap 8
Qualifying
Lewis Hamilton managed to get the pole position by 0.299 seconds and a final lipe time of 1:27.760. Valtteri Bottas was right behind him, helping Mercedes score a one-two and monopolize the first line of the grid.
Track evolution
As the qualifying session went on, with the track rubbering in, and the drivers testing the limits of the grip of their cars, the times per lap dropped, and 10 out of the 14 drivers that took place in Q2 were able to improve their times.
The Q3 is the time were all the remaining drivers put all their cards on the table, even those with a superior car who might have been managing their times in Q1 and Q2 push their cars to the limit in Q3. That being said, the changing conditions of the track made it difficult to find these limits, and only 1 driver was able to improve his Q2 times.