Japanese Grand Prix statfile

23 September 2015 11:01

The Formula One circus has arrived in Japan for round 14 of the championship.

Here, Press Association Sport has combined a list of statistics and trivia ahead of the Suzuka race.

+ Lewis Hamilton was expected to match Ayrton Senna's tally of 41 career victories at the Singapore Grand Prix. But it was Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel, who won under the lights and claimed the 42nd win of his career. It means the four-times world champion is now a standalone third in the all-time list. Only Alain Prost (51) and Michael Schumacher (91) have won more races.

+ With Kimi Raikkonen joining team-mate Vettel on the podium at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, it was the first time two Ferrari drivers had featured on the rostrum together since the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix.

+ Hamilton failed to finish in Singapore for the first time this season. The Briton, who did not see the chequered flag, suffered a loss of power and was forced to park his Mercedes. It ended a run of 19 consecutive points finishes - a streak which stretches back to last September's Italian Grand Prix.

+ The world champion also failed to qualify on the front row for the first time in 20 grands prix. He had been chasing Senna's record of 24. He also fell one shy of Senna's record of eight consecutive poles.

+ Hamilton's Mercedes team were also on a run of 23 consecutive pole-positions heading to Singapore. But their failure to secure a slot at the front of the pack saw them fail in their bid to match Williams' tally of 24 poles on the spin.

+ Fernando Alonso's retirement from Sunday's race in Singapore was his sixth of a lacklustre campaign. Incredibly it matches the same number of DNFs he endured in his 96-race career at Ferrari across five seasons.

+ Sunday's race has been brought forward by one hour following Jules Bianchi's crash last year. The Frenchman skidded off the circuit and crashed into a recovery vehicle with daylight fading. He became the first driver to die as a result of an accident at a grand prix weekend since Senna in 1994 when he succumbed to his i njuries in July. The race will get under way at 6am (UK time).

+ Including the 1995 Pacific Grand Prix in Aida, the world championship has been decided in Japan on 13 occasions - more than any other country.

Venue: Suzuka

Circuit length: 5.807 kilometres/3.608 miles

Laps: 53

Race distance: 307.471km/191.053 miles

Lap record: 1min 31.540 secs (Kimi Raikkonen, 2005)

2014 pole position: Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) 1min 32.506 secs

2014 winner: Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)

2014 fastest lap: Lewis Hamilton 1min 51.600 secs

Number of corners: 18 (eight left/10 right)

Tyre compounds to be used: medium/hard

Bumpiness: low

Overtaking chance: low

Engine severity: high

Brake wear severity: very low

No of safety cars deployed since 2009: Seven

Schedule

Friday, September 25

Free practice 1: 1000-1130 (UK time: 0200-0330)

Free practice 2: 1400-1530 (UK time: 0600-0730)

Saturday, September 26

Free practice 3: 1200-1300 (UK time: 0400-0500)

Qualifying: 1500 (UK time: 0700)

Sunday, September 27

Japanese Grand Prix: 1400 (UK time: 0600)

Source: PA