Rate the race: Japan

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What did you think of the Japanese Grand Prix? Rate the race out of ten and leave a comment below:

Rate the 2010 Japanese Grand Prix out of ten

  • 10 (4%)
  • 9 (8%)
  • 8 (21%)
  • 7 (27%)
  • 6 (19%)
  • 5 (10%)
  • 4 (5%)
  • 3 (4%)
  • 2 (1%)
  • 1 (1%)

Total Voters: 2,869

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1 = ‘Terrible’, 10 = ‘Perfect’

F1 Fanatic holds polls on each race to find out which fans thought were the best and worst races during a season. Please vote based on how entertaining and exciting you thought the race was, not on how your preferred driver or team performed.

See the results for past seasons here:

2010 Japanese Grand Prix

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    Author information

    Keith Collantine
    Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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    174 comments on “Rate the race: Japan”

    1. Typical Vettel win: BOOOOOOORRRRRIIINNNNGGGGGG

      Thank heavens for Kobayashi

      1. He really did save the race for the viewers. A lot of great passes to make it exiting.

        Nothing really happened after the start excitment got into the SC laps.

        Even Schu did not have a real go at Rosberg after the first one.
        Voted it a 6.

        1. Yeah a 6. Wins from pole are often boring, it’s a pity so many drivers dropped out early. Kobi saves the day again.

          1. 7… Ok Kobayashi makes it an 8.

            Lot’s of action and Kamui was just fantastic to watch. So pleased for him in his home GP.

            1. Kamui the lone racing driver in the middle of a taxi parade. Thank God he’s there.

              I’m getting annoyed at BBC commentators constantly making light-hearted remarks and making fun of Kamui “acrobatics”.

              The guy is a serious and talented racer and and is a hell of a lot more consistant and safe in his overtaking than Vettel is for instance.

            2. Yeah, it’d be great to see him in a faster car. He just needs to keep it pointed in the right direction all of the time.

            3. Kobi made it an 8 for me. Otherwise a 7.

      2. Agree with Lachie, a Vettle victory is a 750bhp sedative.

        But Yeah Kobayashi brings up the score a litte. This was a race with great potential, however four things robbed us of an actually decent race.

        1 Hamiltons gearbox, 3tenths off in quali in a car that goes faster in the race, who knows might have been interesting.

        2 Kubica’s wheel, damn, A Redbull in front was always going to disapear but loosing him from p2 was a blow.

        3 Button, maybe i’m being harsh but this deprived us of a first stint battle between AloHam.

        4 Hamiltons gearbox.

        SO yeah, I’m writing pointless lists to hide my Macca based depression, boring race marks for potential, Vettle once again demonstrating his skill as one of the top 2 drivers in an Adrian Newey car, truly one of the superstars of our sport.

        6

    2. Lewis should start thinking about leaving Mclaren. The team is clearly letting him down. Ok he made a mistake or two, the car, strange strategy and developments have all worked against.
      Mclaren have the best driver on the grid in Lewis Hamilton and still manage to mess things up :(

      1. Where would he go? Clearly he isn’t going to Ferrari while Alonso’s there and by the time he could get into a Red Bull Adrian Newey will probably be gone. Anyone else is too much of an unknown.

        Being realistic he’s now had three bad results in a row and only one of those could be blamed on the team.

        Button is right, McLaren is a team you want to be with as they’ll always be up there

        1. Webber might retire after he wins, didnt he say that?

          1. It would really be great to see Hamilton and Vettel at RBR. Like Prost and Senna at McLaren.

            1. Well said US_Peter, I would love to see that

            2. US_Peter, lol, Vettle ain’t no Prost or Senna, Hamilton would wipe the floor with him. Redbull are the new Williams, fastest car, not necessarily the best drivers, or on todays grid, even close.

              Alonso and Hamilton was the greatest comparable driver pairing seen in this generation but we got it at the wrong time.

            3. All this talk about Hamilton leaving McLaren is ridiculous.

              If he didn’t retire last two races he would be the championship leader today. The team provides him with a great car, and he clearly is a talented driver. Last two DNFs and today’s mechanical failure are in essence a consequence of bad luck. None of it is a reason to leave the team.

            4. Damn straight ben. Obviously he ain’t going nowhere next year but maybe, just maybe if the McLaren isn’t on the pace next year.

              Or the year after that, an when the rules change, you’d have to back Newey again.

            5. What would be really great and UNBEATABLE, would be Seb and Kimi at RBR. That’s THE TRIO to look for.

            6. “If he didn’t retire last two races he would be the championship leader today”.

              Oh, Ben, if your friend Lewis had not taken out Kimi twice 2 years ago, Kimi would have won the Championship and your friend would still be crying…… probably as bad as Felipe.

            7. @ Paris

              If Kimi had won the 2 races you’re talking about (Canada and Japan I guess?) then he would have had an extra 14 points. He finished over 20 down. And I don’t see the relevence of your point. What was said about Lewis being in the lead of the championship is true. Nobodies saying that he necessarily deserves to be leading, just that he and his car are capable and so he had no reason to leave McLaren.

          2. Isn’t Hamilton’s contract with McLaren til 2012?

          3. I hope the Mclaren bad days arent back. While Kimi was in the seat, all they had was mechanical problems. When lewis debuted it kinda became the most stable car on the grid. Now looks like itz gettin back to itz old self again…

        2. Ok but you have to look at the season over all. The car isn’t fast enough and with all Mclaren’s resources, the development has been one step forward and steps back.
          The bad strategies where Mclaren would call Lewis in when he is catching leaders, Telling him to slow so his team mate passes him and so many other weird decisions that seem to disproportionally go his way.
          Maybe not next year, but I think Hamilton should start contacting Mercedes, they are his best option for the future (maybe Renault) and it will be Mclaren’s loss.

          1. Bit rash, doncha think?

        3. Lewis will never leave Mclaren. However I’d like to see him in a FI or Reno to see how good he is when he is not in a race winning car…

          1. didnt you watch the 2009 season?

            1. That’s true, there is where I changed my mind about Hamilton. He’s got something else that only a few others have. I think those are Hamilton, Alonso, Kubica…. and Kobayashi?

        4. Yes but two of those errors were forced from trying to compensate for the relatively uncompetitive car.

          I agree he should think about leaving if McLaren don’t give him the kind of car he *wants* next season. They’re wasting his talent: investing in KERS and then the F-duct when they need to develop a car with the downforce and handling Hamilton needs to make use of his speed and his unmatched skill at passing. I mean, why focus on straight line speed advantage when you’ve got the best overtaker on the grid (and Button who’s not bad either)? Ferrari’s strategy was much smarter this year, good all-round car design that can be adapted over the course of the season.

          1. I agree totally. Scrap with the straightline speed, because as soon as somebody follows a RBR through the corners, they fall back rapidly, and have to rinse, repeat. McLaren needs to develop their cars SUITED to their drivers’ talents..which they seem not to be able to.

          2. It’s a good point, although in the case of Monza the car was competitive and Hamilton was just being a bit rash.

      2. Michael Schumacher would have probably left Ferrari after 3/4 of his first season with them under that logic, with the number of drive-shaft, suspension, and particularly engine failures he had in 1996 (anyone remember France, where the engine blew on the formation lap :p)

        Keep your faith. Sport is just an extension of life really, and as we all know, life is frustrating and unfair.

        1. Hamilton has nothing of Schumi’s patience and composure..remember 2009 when he was prepared to bail after 5 races in the doldrums

          Schumi in 1996 was indeed unbelievably determined..as in 1999 when he returned from his accident

          1. Tripe. Hamilton was going to leave over SpyGate – everything else was his father ranting and silly rumours he was going to Brawn. At least attack him for that (it was his fault after all); why do people feel the need to make stuff up?

            1. Despite your pedantic nature, the point is nevertheless still valid. Hamilton has nothing of Schumacher’s patience at Ferrari.

            2. How is it valid? First, Hamilton seems pretty patient to me. Any evidence otherwise? Has he been complaining? No. Second he came into the team when the car was at the top (thanks including to some stray Ferrari data), precisely the opposite of Schumacher starting at a Ferrari team that hadn’t tasted success in years.

          2. yes, he has been complaining whenever the car was not able to challenge for wins

            1. and publicly berated the team when strategy not been to his liking not knowing what was behind him. He done so at least twice this year each time very unfairly to the team if you don’t have anything nice to say don’t say it or keep it for behind closed doors not bitch over team radio for everyone to hear. At least he not done so the later part of the year and taken the blame on the last few incidents on himself (when it was himself to blame) instead of trying to blame the team. Maybe he finally is maturing a bit.

            2. It’s always the same. When he holds his tongue he’s criticised for being an unthinking corporate PR automaton. And when he speaks his mind he’s ‘immature’ and ‘bitchy’. He can do no right in the eyes of some.

        2. Yeh I guess you’re right, I’m just so frustrated with Mclaren right now. They have so much resources, two fab drivers and look where they are.

          1. That they were ever in contention is amazing and a credit to them. They’re still struggling with the new rules and apart from individual races probably haven’t had the best overall car since some point in 2008. Hopefully they’ll get a bit of a jump now for next year and with the double diffusers going things might equalise.

        3. so true! and @MeredesBeenz – you sound like some Polish fans suggesting Kubica should leave Renault – I am sure he would like to have problems like Hamilton and drive for MacLaren.

      3. You’re right – one race with technical glitches is definitely enough reason for any driver to bolt from his team. Sheesh.

        1. theyve had a solid season so far. n if not for the 2 DNFs which hamilton got on himself, i think he wudve still been leadin the WDC.

          Looks to me like sumone cast a spell on him! 1st a new gearbox fails after 3 races, n so now they put a new one n tat also fails! so if they plan to change it now, another 5 place grid penalty in the next race!

      4. I can remember a much longer drought for McLaren… They lost Honda engines and used a Ford in ’93 then a Peugeot and finally teamed up with Merc… which as I recall was really an Ilmor with a Mercedes badge. Wasn’t until 1998 and 1999 that Mika won WDC’s then Hamilton in 2008.

        But somehow Macca is always there. A lot of credit can go to Ron Dennis (I choke as I write this, it took me years to respect Dennis and it still isn’t easy) for raising the bar in F1.

        Macca is a top team… win or lose.

    3. very good race for kobayashi.

      1. Indeed, after shy qualifications. I was already thinking he just got cracked under pressure, but it’s great he found his rythm for the race.
        I also liked Schumacher-Rosberg fight and all the tension among top 3.
        The rest was either dull procession or series of accidents nothing to do with actual racing.
        Still – this was fun to watch and I gave 8.

    4. yes kobayashi drove well at home. but did it look like he only had 3 options on?!

    5. Crash in practice 1 + A five spot grid penalty + an ear infection + a numpty new gearbox = 5th place.

      Good job Lewis, really good job. I wish he could have had a go at Alonso though.

      1. I agree. It was important to get a finish…

      2. Pretty good job driving all those laps in gears 4-7. I suppose it was the maximum out of the weekend for him.

        But both McLarens are losing out a bit in the WDC.

        1. yeah, a wee bit BasCB. Especially after Lewis had the pace to qualify third, after missing nearly all of free practive and therfore not being able to complete his testing programme.

          McLaren are doing what Ferrari did after Valencia, they’ve got the pace, as has been proven by recent quali performances and the race pace, but they’ve just gone and lost their delivery.

          Hamilton had the pace to get his season right back on track here, just not the luck. Now he basically needs a DNF from Webber and some poor results from the others.

      3. Ya, Ham is a racer… I like him for that. He’s gotten a lot tougher mentally since his first season. A very fast learner in my opinion.

        1. Well, he’s learning but I think that 4 years are not 4 days to say he learn fast. I think he’ll win again another championship, even crashing.

          And regarding to the main issue now: I’m sure he’ll win in McLaren.

    6. Sory but alonso is the best driver. But i agree with you about mclaren.they were the 2nd fastest team this weekend as martin acknowledged.yet no podium!.i rate the race 6 for koba..oh and does this mean another penalty for ham?

      1. Debatable. Only by a smidge. McLaren have waited all year an now they start failing to deliver, an just when they got on the pace.

        GAH!

        1. more than Alonso a good driver, itz actually ferrari a more composed n refined team with no hasty decisions. which mclaren for sum reason likes to do! :P

          1. Dunno about that man, Ferrari have come back into it, but I wouldn’t say they;ve been more composed this season at all. They’ve made some fairly “hasty” decsions infact.

            McLaren got a bit off the pace at Germany, an had bad luck Singapore and Italy, nothing to do with the team, as a team they’ve tended to overdeliver.

            Refined is just fanboy talk, they’re both excellent teams.

    7. Good race. Shame about the Mclarens, though. I gave it a nine on how good it was anyway

      1. Wow, i get the feeling you are a bit generous there.

        Apart from the start (most action missed by FOM) and Kobayashi making those great overtakes at the end it was only watching cars drive around an admittedly exciting track at pretty good speed.

    8. 7 from me, too bad so many teammates where one in front of the other, we could have seen more action at the front if it weren’t so.

      1. Or not. Alonso and Vettel at Singapore? None of the drivers who finished top four in Japan looks like risking anything until it’s absolutely necessary. The only way you would have action at the front would be with either Hamilton or Kobayashi up there. Unless it rains in Brazil, this season’s conclusion could be a bit of a let down.

    9. Nice race. Lots of DNF. Two more cars KOV will get the 1st point for the new teams.

    10. gave it a 9..great race, exciting throughout, but we’ve been robbed of Kubica’s showing and the exciting bits weren’t really at the front..other than that, brilliant race

      as far as driver performances are concerned, Vettel has been terrifically composed since Italy and this time he’s been supreme..good one from Schumi as well and I’m sorry not to have seen the Williams capitalise on their qualifying pace..everyone will be praising Kobayashi and I’ll let the others to it, especially since I’m not that crazy about him to be honest..Alonso was lucky with Button’s strategy and Hamilton’s gearbox

    11. I can’t rate the race as my alarm let me down and I slept all the way through until the last lap!

      1. Noooooooooo! Kobayashi was the highlight.

      2. You would have been doing better waking up and falling asleep again after the first 2 laps!

        The best part were about 6 passes by Kobayashi for postion after his pitstop. Apart from that it was not really exciting (although watching them drive through Suzuka is a bit of a thrill).

      3. eh ye missed not much, Koba made some, already overrated but fairly agressive none the less passes into the hairpin.

        Button robbed us of Ham vs Alo, in the first stint, Hamiltons gearbox robbed us of it in the second, basically a bit of a procession.

        Oh an Kub went out first lap, which did wonders for the action.

        1. Overrated? Really?

          Why? i thought they were fantastic.

          1. Overrated because he doesn’t drive for Mclaren and his last name is a few letters short from spelling “Hamilton”

          2. Home turf, I guess, but even so, pretty impressive given Hamilton, for one, was complaining it’s ‘impossible to overtake’ while stuck behind Button – though he did manage to overtake Kobayashi of course! Koba’s pass on Barrichello was great, you could just imagine Rubens ‘huh?! cheeky kid!’

    12. Very good reliability from the new teams today.

    13. I posted a photo on the live chat showing the missing green stripe on Kob.. But I have just searched through to see if the inside stripe is visible.. This is the best I could come up with

      http://img202.imageshack.us/img202/4418/kobtyre2.jpg

      1. Looks like it is, so it really did just rub off in the contact with Alguersuari. That’s nuts!

      2. This is the image showing the scrubbed outside green stripe

        http://img121.imageshack.us/img121/1051/kobtyre.jpg

        1. Now that I look closer you can kind of see a faint haze where the stripe was.

          1. If it got scrubbed off with contact with Jaime which seems more likely now as noone has said anything then fine. If it was the wrong tyre then unfortunately I can’t argue against a DSQ. The rules say both compounds must be used and all the tyres have to be the same. It’s unfortunate error by Sauber and clumsy but it;s a team sport. I don’t believe it;s like FI because they used both compounds just they got their allocation mixed up with their drivers. I hope it is just a silly thing and the stripe was scrubbed off but if it’s anything more I can’t argue against a punishment.

      3. Really hope he doesn’t get DQ. To me, he was driver of the day.

      4. Great news, really would have been sad, he was easily the star of the race. Excellent late breaking.

    14. Massively disappointed by Hamilton’s gearbox failure AGAIN (another penalty for Korea?) I reckon he could’ve been on the podium where Alonso is now had he kept up those lap times.

      All in all, an okay race. The first half was exciting, with all those crashes and DNFs (DiGrassi’s was truly weird) and Schumacher edging Rosberg until Rosberg’s wheel failure was good but the most exciting racer here was Kobayashi.

      To think… if Glock hadn’t broken his leg last year we might never have seen this Japanese ace. For sheer entertaining racing Kobayashi’s up there with Hamilton.

      1. Yeah, we have to thank Glock for getting the flu last year that had him off his game enough to break his leg and bring us Kobayashi!

        There really were some strange retirements.

      2. I think Kobayashi is a good example of how the final standings of a GP2 championship can mean very little. He wasn’t a real star, he was getting beaten on a regular basis by his teammate d’Ambrosio (whom also seems to be gelling in well at Virgin), but he’s really come through in F1.
        Sure, he’s made some rookie errors, but that’s not extraordinary.

    15. I might give it a 10 just for how much of a laugh I got from hearing Crofty on the 5Live commentary manage to get a Leeroy Jenkins reference into an F1 race!

      1. Yeah that was bizarre. Were you listening to their commentary throughout because the BBC coverage was being glitchy. We lost Brundle and Legard’s commentary for a bit and it was repalced with the 5 Live team, just a few seconds before Croft mentioned Leeroy Jenkins.

        Ted Kravitz’s microphone was also echoing loads.

        1. Just because of that I think I might listen to the 5Live commentary from now on. I like Brundle, but can’t stand Legard, and I think accidentally hearing that was the final straw for switching audio.

          1. Who CAN stand Legard? Seriously, I wish the guy would just shut up and let Brundle do all the talking. Or just get rid of Legard and replace him with Croft and Antony Davidson.

            Or Karun Chandhok. His commentaries on 5 live in practice sessions in the past have been excellent.

          2. Agreed, unfortunately us foreign BBC viewers do not have the luxury of additional audio feeds. I really like Brundle’s excellent insights, but Legard just keeps ******* me off.

            At least Brundle found a way to cope with him, they really didn’t get along in the first season. :D

    16. 7

      I enjoyed it- I like eventful races like these. There was always something going on out there. A few passes, a few crashes- good stuff

    17. Great race, really enjoyed that one a lot more than I thought I would. Shame Hamilton never got a chance to catch up Alonso, but he managed. Great performance by Vettel and he’s always smiling so uncontrollably whenever he wins, especially this one.

      Kobayashi really managed to make it the race it was though, in front of his home crowd. He’ll most likely be Disqualified though, as he seemed to be running the option and prime tires during his last stint simultaneously. Here’s a photo (courtesy of an Alex in the live chat): http://img121.imageshack.us/img121/1051/kobtyre.jpg

      Would be a terrible shame and a horrible mistake by Sauber, but doesn’t really detract from Koby’s performance. Let’s hope the green stripe was just torns off during the Algersuari battle. :)

      1. BS, see Alex’s comment on page 1. Looks like it legitimately rubbed off in the contact with Alguersuari.

        1. Yeah, I started typing before that post existed, just saw it after my comment appeared on top of page two. :/

    18. 7 from me, and that’s only because Kobayashi who was like RK last time.

      Kubica – the most unlucky driver today.

    19. Also, what’s with the word ‘banzai’? Brundle’s used it a few times before but now others are starting to do it as well. Vettel used it (saying ‘bonzai’) and Legard used it in the commentary as well. STOP IT!

      1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banzai

        The top two points sum it up, I think for Kamui it’s quite relevant!

      2. it’s accessible Japanese stereotyping

      3. Vettel was just embarressing with his after race outcry i think.

        This was exactly the same “that is what i mean” he used whith the first race won this year, just added a stupid “bonzai” to give it some Japanes flavour.

        1. I’m well aware what it means and where it comes from but it just seems ridiculous that such a specific word has suddenly sprouted for no good reason, other than it being the Japanese GP.

      4. Brundle who? Not really enough of a F1 hero to go around spewing crap like that.

    20. Kobayashi saves the day again! It’s a pity we didn’t get to see what Kubica could’ve pulled off in the race, but overall I’d say that this was worthy of an 8. Could’ve done with more action at the front though.

    21. I went for a 9! I really enjoyed that, Maybe I’m just in a good mood!

      If the FIA throw the book at Kamui I may regret it though…

    22. Guilherme Teixeira
      10th October 2010, 9:10

      I think the circuit owners should rename the hairpin to something like “Kobayashi Kamui-sama hairpin”. Only that to keep me awake at 4am…

      I think it was a really good race, which is unusual because all races at Suzuka that I watched were a snorefest!

      8/10

      1. “Kobayashi Kamikazi Korner”;)

    23. Hometown boy Kobyashi was my driver of the day, great stuff!

    24. Reasonably boring race, Kobayashi saved it from being a repeat of Bahrain. Nothing interesting happened with the front runners, apart from Lewis bowing out with a broken gearbox.

      The Japanese producers didn’t help by showing way too much Yamamoto (seriously, pitting from last, rejoining in last is not worthy of air time)

      1. The best of those moments were, when he got passed by Trulli and Glock :-(

      2. Was it really that boring? I mean you had people battling up and down the field….

        I think people use the “it was like Bahrain” line WAY too often…..

      3. Oh please – of course it’s worthy of air time if it’s your guy. Besides which: if you say the race was boring, what were we missing?

        1. They say it was boring bc Mclaren didnt win. My fav driver didnt win today, but i thought the race was great. Gave it a 9

    25. It was an ok race, rated it 6, because most the excitement came from Kobayashi (you gotta love him!)

      But the moment which grabbed my attention was McLaren. The shots of Lewis approaching the chicane with Jenson behind. Lewis’s brakes were emitting clouds of carbon, and JB arrived at the spot without any visual effects at all. This is really where you should look for similarities between Senna and Prost situation. Generally, Lewis makes this McLaren go faster, but it often fires back with reliability problems. What reliability issues JB had? None! Don’t count Monaco, it was a human thing there. Considering they both get same equipment it is pretty obvious that Lewis harasses his car more than JB does. It’s cool, he’s a fighter and all that. His fighting also gets him in trouble during the races, but sometimes makes him a hero and all that.
      But what it’s worth if JB finishes ahead of him in the championship? It doesn’t seems unlikely now. This is, i guess, how it was in McLaren back in the days. A battle between ruthless speed demon and a grossmeister.

      And it seems that both McLarens are out of the hunt for the drivers championship, ~30 points with 3 races to go it’s a bit too much to regain in my view.

      1. Except Lewis’ reliability issues weren’t with the brakes, they were with his gearbox. Dunno what the point of bringing up the brake dust shot shot since that happens a lot anyway.

        1. Whatever, but I think Leftie has a point. When all reliability issues hit the same driver to a point when the difference is already statistically significant, the only difference is driving style…

        2. But that show was nice to see, i found it remarkable as well to see how much Lewis brakes are huffing and puffing dust.

          It might be that without the lower gears he had to do a bit more with the brakes.

          1. BasCB: it was even before! at first i didn’t pay any attention to it, only when JB appeared behind the difference became pretty eye catching

        3. thanks man, i’m very aware of the fact that brakes don’t have a 3rd gear to loose :)

          well of course it happens a lot, but i’m pointing not at the fact of dust emitting alone, i’m pointing at the operating differences between two cars

      2. What have been Lewis’ mechanical failures so far this year though? Here are the 3 that I can recall:

        1.) Spain – whilst there were initial speculations that Lewis’ driving contributed to a ‘tyre failure’, it was found to be a wheel nut at fault.

        2.) Hungary – gearbox failure, as I understand it. Does anyone know anything more about the reasons for that failure?

        3.) Japan – gearbox failure. Considering it was brand new, I can’t imagine Lewis pushed it anywhere near enough in the laps he did to contribute to its failure.

        It’s always been clear that Lewis and Jenson have different driving styles and that Jenson is ‘easier’ on his car, but can you point to any evidence that suggests Lewis’s driving style has actually contributed to any of these 3 mechanical issues?

        The brake dust issue, as pointed out by Robbie, is a red herring in this case. It may indeed point to Lewis being a bit harder on his brakes, but that doesn’t mean it is detrimental in any way. He’s not suffered from any brake-related issues this year that I can think of?

        I think if Jenson does finish ahead of Lewis in the championship, he’ll point to his own mistake at Monza and (arguably) Singapore, rather than how the car was affected by his driving.

        1. How does a driver’s style affect the reliability of a car in 2010? Does Hamilton flick the steering wheel paddles too hard whereas Button caresses them like a gentleman? This line of reasoning is an excuse for Button not being able to find that usual .3s he lacks from his teammate: he’s saving the car. A Likely Story.

      3. Put it this way, neither Button or Hamilton is going to win the WDC this year. It’s over. But even if Hamilton finishes below Button, the only one of them who *could* have won this year – had not accumulated these DNFs and other problems all of a sudden – is Hamilton. That’s the difference.

      4. Maybe McLaren should build a more sturdier car for their wunderkind….one that he can actually adapt to his driving style and not suffer so many mech issues?

    26. I hope an onboard from Massa appears online as well as a better angle/onboard of Di Grassi’s enormous a la McNish ’02 crash at 130R.

      1. Massa had an onboard. He went a bit mental and went for a gap that was never really there or was never going to last long and seemed like as he went on the grass to get out of the situation he just lost it.

        1. I think he got the rear wheel on the grass (still a bit slippery from the rain) and just lost control.

          Bur surely Massa’s mistake. At least he did not have to be Alonso’s rear gunner ;-)

        2. It must have been on the BBC only. Can you send me a link if you see it anywhere please Steph?

          1. It was just on the BBC F1 forum. Course I will Damon. I’ve just done a quick search and couldn’t find the onboard I’ll try again later but here are some replays (ignore the random kid)

            http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vh5-fo8US5Y

            1. Thanks Steph! I saw those replays live. Has anyone seen any more footage or Di Grassi though?

            2. Could you tweet it to me if you do find anything Steph? What about Rosberg? We never saw what happened to him other than that onboard which didn’t tell us much.

    27. 7. Race was quite good.

    28. what can I say?
      if there weren`t many crashes on the start and we couldn`t see kamui on the track, the race would be so so boring.
      although it was boring…
      4. for that

      bernie, please think about the future, because i will see RC Cars :)

      1. The start was interesting, but FOM cameras missed most of the action and it gave us a SC instead of an interesting first 2 laps and then Kubica dropped out as well.

        I gave it a 6 mainly for the great passes by Kobayashi. Driving around Suzuka makes it a nice view to watch thoug, so it would not have been less than a 5 for me anyhow.

        1. It wasn’t FOM’s fault, Fuji tv did this broadcast (rather poorly in my opinion).

    29. What was Webber going on about in the post race interview? Something about “we all know the rules” and his position for the second part of the race. Were they team ordered? His last lap effort to hit fastest lap certainly pointed to a man who could have gone faster, and wanted everyone to know it. Didn’t think too much of that until his comment. Did anyone else hear that?

      1. Looked like that a bit to me as well. Maybe they were told not to battle (knowing how good Vettel is at that, and with Alonso right on their tail as well).

      2. Interesting… Webber feeling a bit disgruntled?

        1. I thought the smile on his face he tried to hide when the BBC asked him about taking the fastest lap off Vettel said it all ;)

        2. Have a look at the victory picture with “Vettel celebrating with the whole RBR team” posted here https://www.racefans.net/2010/10/10/japanese-grand-prix-in-pictures-2/ .

          The only Webber in there is from cardboard!

      3. Also, didn’t he leave the interview room before the questions were over?

    30. A 7 from me.The race was a little bit of a procession at the front.Webber was lucky in Kubica’s misfortune.Kobayashi had an inspired drive and was the highlight for me.But i did get a good laugh on the final lap when Webber took the fastest lap away from Vettel.

    31. Sometimes one man can make the difference.
      Today Kobayashi gave us great entertainment, as if he was playing in his little backyard. 8/10

      For the rest, only a processional race. Sad for Liuzzi, luck is not on his side in this period.

      1. and obviously i’m sad for Kubica, Renault’s mechanics have thrown away a golden chance.

    32. Kobayashi earned this one an 8 all by himself. I certainly hope we’ll see this guy in some top of the line machinery eventually – though if Sauber continue to develop along the same lines as this year with Carlos Slim behind the team next year… . Where are you now, oh ye of little faith who were pooh-poohing his breakthrough performances last year? Ha!

      What a bummer for Kubica – although we couldn’t ask much better than having the five top contenders fighting it out for the top five spots in the race – I can’t help but think that he might have given Vettel a harder time than Webber did. Ok so that might be wishful thinking, but we’ll never know.

    33. 3 – What a poor, boring race that was. Today Formula 1 showed its true face: drivers can’t overtake because they lose grip and overheat their brakes, engine and gearbox as soon as they start to slipstream.

      1. sorry F1 fanatics but it’s true

      2. I’m not sure what race you were watching?

        What a poor, boring race that was. Today Formula 1 showed its true face: drivers can’t overtake because they lose grip and overheat their brakes, engine and gearbox as soon as they start to slipstream.

        It make me wonder how many F1 races you’ve seen in the last 10 years to compare this race to?

        I thought it was great. I gave it an 8.

        1. Apart from a small number of passings in the midfield, particularly from Kobayashi, there race provided very little ‘racing’. As I wrote earlier: drivers lose grip and overheat key parts as soon as they start slipstreaming. Remember, with the current set of rules a slipstream in Suzuka could well cause an engine failure in Abu Dhabi due to overheating.

          1. Must agree with Pingguest. Lots of tension this year because of the close fight between the five drivers at the front but there has not been much on track action between them.

            Twitchy aero and too hard tires are spoiling what could’ve been an epic year.4/10.

            Goodbye double diffuser, hello Pirelli’s. Next year should be better.

    34. Gave it a 5. Good racing in the midfield but a pretty standard race at the front.

      One of this season’s races that catches your attention for the tension and closeness of the championship battle more than the actual racing, although that is to be expected at this stage of the season!

    35. Great racing in the midfield. It’s a shame that we did see overtaking between the front runners. Well done Kobayashi. 7/10.

    36. 7. Lots of drama on the opening lap with some major retirements during the race & for sure the driver of the day Kobayahsi provided the entertainment. I used to miss Montoya a lot ,now I think I have found a replacement. The way Kobayahsi drove today will for sure will be in many teams shopping list in the future.

    37. Suppose that new Renault’s sponsors from Russia can’t look at Kubica leadering in this team. Shame on you Renault.

    38. Would have been a seven, but with Kamui at his home race had to give it a ten

    39. 7 for a super entertaining final surge from Kobayashi. The whinging about how Hamilton being the best driver on the grid and his misfortune compared to those two ‘slow’ drivers at RBR almost make it an 8. Seriously, get over it. I can’t split the top four on talent, they each have their days (or weeks).

    40. I thought it was a dreadful race. The hopes for an exciting start were over with the appearance of the SC, any excitement at the front was ruined with Kubica’s retirement and Hamilton’s getting closer to Alonso were ruined by his gearbox. Other than that the race was pretty much a Red Bull 1-2. Gave it a generous 5 due to Kobayashi.

    41. I wanna see what Kobayashi could do in a Red Bull

    42. it’s a shame that Kubica didnt finish ;/

      1. I don’t care as much about not finishing, although it’s a shame for him.

        What i mind is him not even getting a fight or two during the race, but dropping off the cameras and us finding out about 2 laps later, that he somehow crashed/stopped.

    43. The first 5 laps and the last 5 laps.
      I could of gone out for 45 laps and missed nothing.
      Sorry, 4.

      Without Kobayashi. 3.

    44. A solid 8 because of Hamilton’s issues. Ending up behind Button this year I’m afraid. Is him the new J Villeneuve maybe?

    45. Its because of the f duct that you all are calling lewis the best overtaker.mr david

    46. Let me make my point clear. In the first four races Lewis made a hell lot of passes.that was the time when They had the f duct which non other barring maybe saubar had. But slowly most of the teams copied it successfully and since then hamilton’s overtaking has been limited to the first few corners only. He couldnt overtake in turkey because the rbr were too fast in the corners and also had a half decent fduct. In canada he overtook alonso due to a mistake but was overtaken back.in italy and singapore his attempts failed. Make no mistake, i am not doubting lewis’s skill but to say that mclaren dont even need the fduct bcoz they got lewis is a bit insane to me. If you doubt me watch the replay of him overtaking webber at china (or malaysia maybe). He closed on him like a rocket on the straight.

    47. Suzuka’s layout means overtaking is difficult. I give it a 7 mostly thanks to Kobayashi!

    48. the coverage was terrible! They missed the front runners for a long time and kept us watching Sakon racing a Lotus and Virgin.

      It’s alright, he’s a japanese. But show him once and that’s it. There’s the other Japanese (who also got a lot of cameras on him) that was doing good!. They even switched to Yamamoto while pitting.

      You tell me if it was worth it. Don’t think so.

      Plus their job on the start’s crashes was poor. Only one replay that showed us nothing and that’s it.

      1. Agree, lucky us it was Kobayashi doing those overtakes, had it been someone else, we might have not even seen them.

    49. Charles Carroll
      10th October 2010, 15:42

      Great race! I gave it a 10!

      1. LOL, or are you serious?

        If so, please explain, what makes this the best race in ages?

    50. Boring race. Probably the last one of the season I’ll watch. The Singapore race really put a bad taste in my mouth after Webber purposely took out his title rival Hamilton and was allowed to collect points for his underhanded effort.

      So I’m just marking the entire season as a farce with Red Bulls suspect flexi-wings and Webber taking out his rivals. I’m just going to throw an (*) on this season, since Red Bull prepaid for the championship.

      See ya next season.

      1. Younger Hamilton
        10th October 2010, 22:06

        Comment of the day but Red Bull’s Flexi wing is no more i even sure Vettel’s on the pit straight it looked pretty static and settled their wings may be clipped but they still have a lot of performance to have the Fastest car of F1 throughout the Whole season yes i think Webber has been absolutely mad and sabotaging his rivals throughout the season,same goes to Vettel if one of them wins the title as well as the Constructors i might even call F1 a day as well.

    51. Quote of the day: Martin Brundle: “Massa’s car looks like Bambi just after he was born!” Good race. I gave it an 8. Great overtaking from Kobayashi and some good action in the midfield. Shame for Kubica

    52. A bit disappointing, with much of the field conspiring to remove themselves befor the race had really begun.

      Although at least I managed to avoid Vettels winning celebrations. And hopefully, this will put an end to people claiming McLaren have been using Team orders. If they were, why would they allow Hamiltons race to be ruined by sitting behind a rather slow Button and so not being able to use the softs to their full potential and try to jump Alonso?

    53. 5 for the race, 10 for the Kobayashi show (again),man, this guy’s the master of the brakes. Are the ‘big teams’ calling?…….they should be.

      1. He have a contract with Sauber for 2011, so it’s not happening that soon.But in the future he will be in the shopping list of many teams.

    54. Younger Hamilton
      10th October 2010, 21:59

      Will all this talk about Lewis leaving McLaren stop the chances of him leaving are very very Unlikely he has stated that he wants to stay with them forever thus he’s been with them for almost all of his racing career they are the team that his racing hero raced for and won titles with McLaren are the team that gave Lewis his first World Title you all think Lewis should go to Red Bull and Mercedes well THINK AGAIN!! because thats never going to happen McLaren and Lewis Hamilton FOREVER!!!

    55. I gave it an 8, partly on the back of Kobayashi. A fair bit of action throughout the race, although I’d have liked to see Webber challenge for the win. He had the speed – so why didn’t it happen?

    56. Very nice race. Lots of crashes but good thing no one got hurt.
      Hats off to the Driver of the day: Kobayashi. Boring race for the top 3 drivers. McLaren has bad strategy calls + a broken 3rd gear for HAM.

      Korea is unknown territory for all drivers & I guess its either the experienced drivers like Alonso, Webber & Button will top this one. Let them bring the race down to the wire! :)

    57. rather boring up front, but I voted 9 because of the large amount of accidents (I never wish for them, but I admit that they make a race more exciting) and a good deal of action in midfield.

    58. I’m usually right in the consensus on this but this race was boring. The demise of Kubica basically killed off the potential of a race among him, Webber, Alonso and Hamilton. In the end, we had a plain-Vanilla 1-2 by the 1-2 qualifiers and the other podium spot filled by virtue of retirement.

      The only bit of frisson came when it seemed that Button’s daft strategy would cause him to pack up Vettel through Hamilton; then that didn’t happen, and then Hamilton’s transmission robbed us of a hell of a battle between him and Alonso. It was a series of terrible disappointments unravelling into progressively deeper boredom. Kobbayashi mowing down midfielder was much appreciated but that is a side show.

    59. Another boring race, made boring by the cleverly designed Red Bull cars … Koba San just had fresh rubber, Kubica did the same in Singa. Rated – 2.

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