2018 Japanese F1 Grand Prix: preview, timetable and how to watch it on TV

The 2018 Russian Grand Prix ended as expected: with a win for Lewis Hamilton, although only after Valtteri Bottas let him through, a victory that leaves the Briton with a 50-point lead over Sebastian Vettel. The German has five races left to perform the miracle of preventing Hamilton from winning another world title, and the first of those races is the 2018 Japanese Grand Prix, which will be run this weekend.

Without further ado, here comes the Japanese Grand Prix, a classic race of the Formula 1 World Championship that has been held without interruption since 1987. German Michael Schumacher is the driver who has won the Japanese Grand Prix the most times, with six victories, and Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel follow tied on four wins each. From the current grid, Fernando Alonso, twice, and Kimi Räikkönen, once, also know what it is like to win this race.

The Japanese Grand Prix has occasionally been held at the Fuji Speedway, but it is at the Suzuka Circuit where it has been run most of the time and where it will be run again this 2018 season. Suzuka is an easily recognisable circuit because of its figure-8 layout. It is one of the most technical tracks on the calendar, although with many fast corners, and several championships have been decided there, as in some years the Japanese Grand Prix was the final race of the season.

In recent years, Suzuka has been a favourable circuit for the Mercedes team, and there is no better proof of this than the four victories in the last four years, three of them for Lewis Hamilton. If Ferrari wants to break the Germans’ streak and keep Vettel alive in the championship, they must focus on Saturday’s qualifying, because it is rare for anyone who does not start from the very front of the grid to win at Suzuka.

2018 F1 Japanese Grand Prix timetable

Due to the time difference between Japan and Spain, following this race this weekend will mean getting up early or staying up later than usual. These are the full timetables for our country:

Friday 5 October:

• 03:00 hours -> Practice 1
• 07:00 hours -> Practice 2

Saturday 6 October:

• 05:00 hours -> Practice 3
• 08:00 hours -> Qualifying

Sunday 7 October:

• 07:10 hours -> Race

As we always tell you, the television broadcasting rights for Formula 1 in Spain are exclusively held by Movistar TV. So for this Grand Prix and the remaining ones, you have to be a subscriber to this platform and sign up for the motor package, which can be done from 10 euros a month.