2014 Japanese Grand Prix – Race HAMILTON WINS in JAPAN USING
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2014 Japanese Grand Prix – Race HAMILTON WINS IN JAPAN USING CINTURATO WET AND INTERMEDIATE TYRES TO EXTEND CHAMPIONSHIP LEAD RAINY CONDITIONS MEAN THAT HARD AND MEDIUM TYRES ARE NOT USED PIRELLI’S THOUGHTS ARE WITH JULES BIANCHI AND MARUSSIA Suzuka, October 5, 2014 – Lewis Hamilton won a prematurely-ended Japanese Grand Prix to extend his championship lead, using the Cinturato Blue wet tyres and Cinturato Green intermediate. The rainy conditions, as a result of the Phanfone typhoon, meant that the hard and medium slick tyres nominated for the weekend were not used at all. The race was stopped, following an accident involving the Marussia of Jules Bianchi, at the end of lap 46. The race got underway behind the safety car for the first time since the Canadian Grand Prix in 2011: Pirelli’s first year of Formula One. It was stopped again, still under the safety car, on lap three and there was a second start 20 minutes later under the safety car once more – meaning that the drivers were obliged to use the full wet tyre (as is the case with any safety car start). The track remained damp after the safety car came in on lap 10, requiring the use of intermediates for the majority of the race. When the rain fell harder, at the end of the race, some drivers made use of the final safety car period to change back to the Cinturato Blue full wet tyre. Pirelli’s motorsport director Paul Hembery said: “The Japanese Grand Prix was held under extremely tricky conditions, but obviously our main concern, along with that of the entire paddock, is the accident that halted the race involving Jules Bianchi and Marussia.” Fastest times of the day by compound: Hard Medium Intermediate Wet First N/A N/A Ham 1m51.600s Ham 1m52.563s Second N/A N/A But 1m51.721s Ros 1m52.607s Third N/A N/A Vet 1m51.915s Mag 1m55.284s Longest stint of the race: Intermediate Bottas and Vergne (27 laps) Wet Hamilton (12 laps) Pirelli Tyre Press Office Ph. +39 02 6442 4270 – [email protected] – www.pirelli.com Truth-O-Meter: We predicted two stops for the race: start on the medium tyre, change to the medium again on lap 22 and finally to the hard on lap 42. However, the wet race meant that this was never going to happen: Hamilton started on full wets and stopped on laps 14 and 35 for intermediate tyres. Pirelli Tyre Press Office Ph. +39 02 6442 4270 – [email protected] – www.pirelli.com Pit stop summary – 2014 Japanese Grand Prix Hamilton: WN WN (2) IN (14) IN (35) 3 Rosberg: WN WN (2) IN (13) IN (33) 3 Vettel: WN WN (2) IN (12) IN (29) 3 Ricciardo: WN WN (2) IN (11) IN (36) 3 Button: WN WN (2) IN (9) IN (31) WU (42) 4 Button: WN WN (2) IN (9) IN (31) WU (42) 4 Bottas: WN WN (2) IN (11) IN (38) 3 Massa: WN WN (2) IN (12) IN (37) 3 Hülkenberg: WN WN (2) IN (12) IN (26) IN (43) 4 Vergne: WN WN (2) IN (11) IN (19) 3 Kvyat: WN WN (2) IN (11) IN (23) IN (39) 4 Raikkonen: WN WN (2) IN (11) IN (23) IN (34) WU (43) 5 Gutierrez: WN WN (2) IN (11) IN (34) 3 Magnussen: WN WN (2) IN (11) IN (15) IN (33) WU (40) 5 Grosjean: WN WN (2) IN (11) IN (21) IN (34) WU (43) 5 Maldonado: WN WN (2) IN (9) IN (22) WU (40) 4 Ericsson: WN WN (2) IN (11) IN (25) WU (39) 4 Chilton: WN WU (2) IN (11) IN (23) 3 Kobayashi: WN WN (2) IN (11) IN (26) IN (38) WU (39) 5 Bianchi: WN WU (2) IN (13) IN (24) 3 Sutil: WN WN (2) IN (12) IN (22) IN (32) 4 Alonso: WN WN (2) 1 NC The first column denotes the tyres the driver started the race on. The second column denotes the tyres the driver used at the re-start. M = Medium compound H = Hard compound N = New compound U = Used compound NC = Not classified DT = Drive Through The last column gives the total amount of pit stops. Pirelli Tyre Press Office Ph. +39 02 6442 4270 – [email protected] – www.pirelli.com *** Copyright-free videos, photos as well as latest media news are available for editorial use from: www.pirelli.com/f1pressarea (registration required). Follow us on Twitter @pirellisport or Facebook: Pirelli Motorsport. Please also visit the Pirelli website for more information on the company: www.pirelli.com. For further information please contact Roberto Boccafogli • +39 335 125 6694 • [email protected] (Head of F1 Press Office) — Francescopaolo Tarallo • +39 334 684 4307 • [email protected] (Head of Product and Motorsport Communication) Alexandra Schieren • +33 607 03 69 03 • [email protected] Anthony Peacock • +44 7765 896 930 • [email protected] Pirelli Tyre Press Office Ph. +39 02 6442 4270 – [email protected] – www.pirelli.com .