Rate the race: 2017 Japanese Grand Prix

2017 Japanese Grand Prix

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What did you think of today’s race? Share your verdict on the Japanese Grand Prix.

Since 2008, F1 Fanatic has held polls on every F1 race to find out which fans thought of each round of the season.

Join in the latest poll and give your verdict on the race: 10 being the highest and 1 the lowest. Please vote based on how entertaining and exciting you thought the race was, not on how your preferred driver or team performed.

What were the best and worst moments of the race? What was the main thing you’ll remember about it? Rate the race out of ten and leave a comment below:

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The Japanese Grand Prix was rated 6.1 out of ten.

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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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68 comments on “Rate the race: 2017 Japanese Grand Prix”

  1. 6/10, but man, Alonso cost us a last lap that could have made this an absolute 10/10

    1. Massa was a lot worse than ALO.

      1. Not sure, if Alonso had gone aside at Spoom where he was, both Hamilton and Verstappen would be stuck behind Massa. It was over the moment Alonso didn’t step aside.

      2. Yep, Massa was a tonne worse. Probably a “slow Honda” thing causing him all the blame and talk afterwards.

    2. To his credit Max said he only caught up to Lewis because of those same back markers – so six of one etc…

      In the sky interview Max refused to accept the back markers cost him the win.

      1. This. He was in best position to judge that.

    3. It’s really too bad, because Alonso and Massa were having their own fight. If these had been occurring on different parts of the track, I think we could’ve seen a Max victory and Alonso points score (at home), which would be great (for me at least).

    4. Actually Alonso was penalized for holding up Hamilton for several corners. He cost Hamilton a lot more time than Verstappen.

      Verstappen even explained that it was only because of that that he got that close to Hamilton.

  2. Massa and Alonso should be disqualified

    1. 7 because Suzuka, honestly more of a 5 or 6.
      Well, it was all too late anyway, often these tyre critical races are far too well calculated by the teams.
      Anyone seen that piece that flew off Ham’s car down the chicane on the 2nd to last lap? Strange.
      Don’t think the Merc was the quicker race car, but they are textbook.

    2. @smartez What lap it was and whether it was a battle for 1st or 5th shouldn’t matter.

  3. Overall a relatively decent race. There could’ve been more battles for a position at the front, but at least that happened at the end there.

  4. Despite Vettel not being in the picture, there was always something interesting going on. Ironic that Palmer who loses his seat is the only one of him, Hulkenberg, and Sainz to finish, albeit a modest P12.

  5. Despite the “last minute” drama, can’t say it was a cracker.

    By the way, #prayforFerrari because this Asia round has been a mess.

  6. Championship permutations: Lewis needs to outscore Seb by 16 points in Austin to win the championship. This means
    Lewis 1st- Seb needs 4th
    Lewis 2nd- Seb needs 7th
    Lewis 3rd- Seb needs to finish the top 10

    1. Looking at it from the other angle – if Seb wins every race this year, Lewis only needs to finish higher than 5th once to win.

    2. If Lewis is 3rd or lower then the championship carries on to the next round, regardless of what Seb does.

  7. 6/10.

    There was some tension at the front towards the end but Vettel’s retirement really took the wind out the sails of that race sadly. Also most of the ‘overtaking’ was made too easy thanks to DRS been in many cases to be a bit overpowered & I just don’t find that sort of easier push of a button passing to be all that interesting to watch.

  8. Did anybody notice how when Vettel retired, they pulled him into Kimi’s garage?

      1. Because they swapped the stickers on the cars so Vettels crash in Malaysia looked like it didn’t break the gearbox. They then got Kimi to crash in practice so they had a reason to change the broken gearbox. They also swapped the cars around in Malaysia after qualifying. The mechanics couldn’t find the fault on Vettels car so just switched the stickers and made it Kimi who didn’t start instead of Vettel. They’ve clearly lost track of which car is which now and this proves it. Of course this is all nonesense and there’s probably just more space in that side of the garage or something.

        1. The scrutineers are not the drooling idiots it would take for this to work.

          1. But last week they didn’t notice the steering wheel was missing on Vettel’s car. I guess it isn’t on their check list.

  9. 7/10. Decent race, but very memorable.

    1. *not very memorable.

  10. Barely watchable, 3

  11. I liked watching it, but I rate the racing a 6. It’s almost like they did something with the cameras to help show the real speed of the cars much better than you usually see.

    1. Since Liberty got involved it looks like they’ve put some work into the camera placement and direction – perhaps a less authentic but more exciting experience, but I’m not complaining.

      1. Speaking of camera positions, I am always annoyed by those close ups of the car which conveys nothing about were the drivers are. I would sooner a long shot which gives a better idea of circuit. This is suppose to be a sport, dam it, not a movie.

        1. I am annoyed by the amount of grandstand shots. As well as not showing all cars pass the finish line.

          1. Spectators, such an old fashioned concept. The thought of all those people actually traveling to sit like sardines and then only catch the tiniest part of the race, when they could be sat in the comfort of their homes or bars like most sensible people, watching on tv. ;)

            At least there’s that rear chance to be spotted on tv, audience participation and all. No I can’t begrudge the grandstand shots.

          2. Especially after the race in that cool down room were the top 3 can chat a little. Those conversations are much more interesting then the obligate podium interviews. But instead we get to see the idiots with funny hats in the grand stands …..

          3. Some people only go to the race or other spectator sport in the hope of being seen on World Wide TV. Having an element of vanity doesn’t mean it is wrong.
            I would much rather see people in the grandstand than seen some poor and humiliated driver having to drink champagne from someone’s discarded jogging shoe. I stop watching the race after the handing out of the prizes because I think it is a horrid thing to do. If I heard a driver beat the media person with that shoe I would be delighted, and I’d be expecting none of the Stewards to notice it happened as well.

  12. There’s nothing better than watching F1 cars cut through Suzuka’s curves and this year’s specs seem to be tailored made for this circuit. I was hoping for a nice and uneventful grand prix for the championship’s sake after the drama of the last few weeks, but that always seems to encourage the universe shake its champagne bottle one more time. While we didn’t see the wheel-banging passes like Malaysia last weekend, I thought the battles still carried some great tension. I’m thinking of those last few laps with three or different drivers on the hunt for a position that meant a lot to them. Another highlight was the great tactical teammate moves like Bottas letting Lewis through and then withstanding Verstappen’s DRS charge; same goes for Magnussen’s pass that punched a hole for Grosjean to follow him into the points and Ricciardo moving into position for a split strategy to pressure Hamilton. Better still though was the radio banter with gems like Perez’s “can I attack him?” followed by “No, Checo…no!” You can’t help but imagine Perez ambushing Ocon like Cato on Clouseau in the Pink Panther. It was a nice moment too with Hamilton gushing over Sato’s Indy 500 ring–anyone think he was serious about Indy run? Anyway, that makes it an 8 for me. Pink Panther scene for anyone missing the reference: https://youtu.be/04DcbaCP7iU?t=22

    1. 8 for me as well, lots of great overtaking and action throughout the field. Shame about vettel but that doesn’t take away from the race.

  13. Well I thought it was a very good race…..battles going on throughout the field….overtaking places being used…Stroll was very very lucky with his accident, that could have been a really big outcome.
    I actually got up at 5am to watch the race, expecting Lewis and Vettel to take each other out on the 1st corner..although it may have happened if Seb had full power.
    Ferrari are going back to the bad old days of unreliability…something that Ross Brawn took a long time to get on top of….I would expect a major engine unit to fail…but a spark plug issue this time??Was it a pipe last time??Not acceptable.
    Title for Lewis now…..has to be

  14. 4/10

    Nothing happened save for the Magnussen divebomb near the end.

    1. Gave it a 3/10, but indeed not a lot happened.

      I feel like after 4 year, still the difference in PU’s is ruining the races.

  15. In recent races I have lost a lot respect for Alonso as a person – always complaning about other drivers doing things, even the stewards accepts, when things do not go his way and then he show plenty of to the edge driving him self – ignoring blue flags etc. – if he does not stop this entitled immature behavior he will not have many more great results and he will not win as many podiums as he could – Fernando you are better than this!

    1. Alonso so is a character, not a ‘yes man’. The sport could do with more like him.

      1. He didn’t break any rules. Lewis could barely catch him and when he did Alonso let him past. Then did the same to Max.

        This is the rules. It looks worse because many of the other back markers don’t know how to do it and not lose about 10 seconds. Pascal basically stopped to let Bottas past. His team should be furious at that.

  16. Hats off to Bottas for taking ‘team orders’ on the chin and not making a big deal about it. That, for me moment was a key moment of the race.

    1. Hats off to Bottas for taking ‘team orders’ on the chin and not making a big deal about it. That, for me was a key moment of the race. It’s just a shame he could not stick with Lewis to get the DRS tow.

      1. He shouldn’t have gotten a DRS tow from Lewis. That was the whole point of it, create more of a gap between Max and Lewis

  17. Boring race, only thing interresting was to see Kimi move up the field.
    The rest just just followed the car in front of them.

    4/10 And that is being generous

  18. For me it was worth an 8.
    I feel a lot of the comments are a bit harsh. Of course the lack of overtaking is painful, but nothing new to F1. This circuit is still great to watch and the tension in this race made me like it.

  19. 1/10
    Too predictable after vettel dnf

  20. Can’t argue with anyone who felt disappointed by this one. I was gutted we didn’t get a Hamilton-Vettel fight. Still it had its moments.

    1. Yeah I’m really liking Max’s starts, for example. He’ll be unstoppable when he has a solid car and reliability. Much excitement to come from him in his long career ahead. Too bad he’s had more unreliability than Vettel. DR can have the odd pole win over him, lol, but a healthy Max can erase that in a heartbeat. By mid-2018 teams will be lining up for him. No wonder Toto has kept things open for 2019.

      1. petebaldwin (@)
        8th October 2017, 14:23

        Red Bull have got stronger and stronger as the season has gone on. I remember seeing their car after launch and it looked so basic compared to the Mercedes and Ferrari. It doesn’t now! It’s a bit like their 2009 season where they improved throughout the season and then went on to win everything for the next few years.

        If they can sort out their reliability issues, next year could be very interesting for Max. Ferrari are in a run of bad luck but they should be up there as well. Hamilton vs Vettel vs Verstappen vs Ricciardo could be one of the best title fights we’ve ever seen!

    2. @keithcollantine Can’t agree more, would have loved a HAM/VET proper fight, what a shame it did not happen, anyway 7/10 for me for the last lap suspense with MAX vs HAM and cheeky moves by the back-markers ALO and MAS.

  21. Although the race result could not have gone better (see my profile pic), I can only give this one 6/10. Quite boring in parts with very little action. I don’t like that finger up German, but this was one race I wished he was there to challenge Lewis and spice up the race. Roll on Austin, it’s got to be better

  22. Things that cost a good rating in my eyes:

    – Wake up early
    – Ferrari incompetence
    – Renault rear wing failure when Hulk was ready to overtake a bunch of guys in front of him
    – Bottas shielding Hamilton
    – Massa & Alonso
    – No more championsship tension

    Gave it a 3/10!

  23. Only reason this site won’t give this race a lower rating is because Hamilton is winning.

    I give 3/10.

    Over after the first corner, made more miserable knowing the rest of the season is pointless to watch now.

    1. @saint-jay Maybe you should blame your idol and his team for their poor performance? It’s not like F1 in general is at fault for them messing up so royally the last few races (and also here and there in the races before).

  24. I was thinking of 3, but the drama towards the end had me somewhat on the edge. 4 it is.

    1. I’ll leave it at a 3 … the “drama at the end” was never going anywhere, this race was over before it started. With Ferrari “we can’t find the spark plugs because the blooming things are hidden somewhere in the ICE, behind the TC, with the MGU-H in the way, the MGU-K stopping us getting a spanner on them, and the ES and CE had us confused”; RB’s “let’s get on with it” Verstappen probably 50hp down on Mercedes; and TV hiring Rosberg who has no clue about “commentating” (and also who is the “Mow” guy that Coulthard and the cameras were drooling over?), this made one of the best tracks into a snooze fest. And killed the championship — give it to the guy with the golden earrings.

  25. Vince Duggan (@vince-dugganvirginactive-co-za)
    8th October 2017, 16:21

    5. Tried to remember something significant and/or exciting… couldn’t.

  26. It was a race where it always felt like something was happening and someone was a threat despite there not being a great deal of genuine passes so 7/10

    Would have been 8/10 but for DRS handing positions away with no real prospect of defence.

  27. I gave it an 8 because, well you know, it is F1. All those scoring really low are expecting like crashes, damage, fire, explosions etc etc. It was as good as it could be…

  28. ILuvSoundtracks (@)
    8th October 2017, 17:08

    Really average race.

  29. I think you still need a decent WordPress programmer :

    Warning: in_array() expects parameter 2 to be array, integer given in /home/f1fantatic/public_html/wp-content/plugins/wp-polls/wp-polls.php on line 640

  30. For me, the most exciting spectacle was the spider that scuttled along the underside of the top wire on the podium.

  31. Gave it an 8. It was fun and entertaining to watch. But also a lot of missed potential. Vettel got a better initial launch, have he had his way Ham would have to overtake. Likewise Max had the potential to stick it on the inside womewhere, but Hamilton never left him close enough.

    Track is great though.

  32. 5/10

    I am a fairly generous usually but I could not give this race more than a 5. I really do wonder if everyone is watching the same thing sometimes. 8s or 9s from some people! There were a few interesting battles but most overtakes were purely down to DRS.

    Has anyone else noticed how with these new cars, combined with the engines, the newer circuits seem to be producing the better races this year and the old ones have been disappointing e.g. Monaco, Hungary, Monza, Suzuka. A lot to do with the width of the circuits I imagine.

  33. I gave the race a 6.

    It was an okay race, while not a classic it kept me entertained enough, however I did only see the highlights.

    Mercedes were quickest in qualifying but the higher temperatures on Sunday raised the prospect that it could be much closer in the race and with Hamilton and Vettel both starting on the front row with the Red Bulls behind them the potential was there for a good race.

    Alas Ferrari’s reliability problems returned, Vettel’s car was not right even before it got to the grid and the team could not get it fixed and he retired after a few uncompetitive laps.

    The increase in temperature did mean that Mercedes did not have as much an advantage in the race as they did in qualifying and Verstappen was able to keep close to Hamilton especially after the pit stops.

    With the Mercedes again not coping as well in the dirty air when following other cars, when the leaders encountered traffic Verstappen managed to get closer but was never close enough to attempt a move so Hamilton was able to go on and take another victory.

    There was action elsewhere in the race which managed to keep my overall rating up.

    With the points lead Hamilton now has in the championship and the number of races left, the only hope that Vettel now has is that Hamilton has a couple of DNFs but as we have seen with Vettel in the last few races such a scenario is not out of the question.

    Hamilton may have finished in the points at every race so far this season but it does not mean he will for the remaining races, he could just as easily crash out or have mechanical problems in a couple of races and the title fight could yet go down to the final race.

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