How the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix was stopped and restarted in typhoon rain

Typhoon rain, a suspended start and a restart defined the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix, which Lewis Hamilton won from second on the grid. Nico Rosberg was second and Sebastian Vettel third, and Hamilton's eighth win of the season extended his drivers lead to ten points.

The race is remembered for two things. The first was the weather, which forced the field back into the pit lane for a restart. The second was the accident that befell Jules Bianchi on the 43rd lap, which led to his death in 2015 and made him the first driver to die of race injuries since Senna in 1994.

Who won the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix?

Hamilton won over 44 scored laps from second on the grid, after Rosberg blocked his first attempt to pass heading into the opening corner. It was Hamilton's eighth win of 2014 and his 30th in Formula One, and it took him to a ten-point lead over Rosberg in the drivers table, with Ricciardo a distant third.

Mercedes extended its constructors advantage over Red Bull, and Williams stayed ahead of Ferrari in the battle for third with four races left in the season. Mercedes had needed to outscore Red Bull by 41 points to clinch the constructors title in Japan.

A two-lap stoppage in typhoon rain, a win from second on the grid and an accident that changed how the sport handles safety.

What was the title situation before Suzuka?

Going into the race Hamilton led the drivers championship with 241 points, three ahead of Rosberg, with Ricciardo third on 181 and Alonso fourth on 133. Vettel was fifth on 124. In the constructors table Mercedes had 479 points, having won 11 of the previous 14 races, and Red Bull had 305.

Hamilton had reclaimed the drivers lead at Singapore, and he said he would take Rosberg's race-by-race approach. He had yet to win the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka and wanted to change that. Red Bull's Christian Horner said the championship was out of reach, but he hoped reliability problems would prolong the battle, and he ruled out team orders favouring one driver.

How did the typhoon threaten the race?

Typhoon Phanfone was classified as a category-four tropical storm and was forecast to hit the eastern coast of Japan on race day, with winds up to 240 km/h (150 mph). The storm was predicted to miss Suzuka itself, but its northern edge was expected to bring rain heavy enough to soak the circuit.

A postponement to Monday was ruled out, because the Russian Grand Prix followed a week later and the freight schedules for the teams' equipment could not be changed. Bernie Ecclestone raised moving the start time forward, but he later said the event would go ahead as planned. Charlie Whiting, the race director, suggested the start should be moved and warned that the race would not take place unless it was declared safe.

The organisers refused to change the start time. Honda, which owns the circuit, reportedly rejected a change that would have let spectators reach the track in time. Senior FIA officials overruled Whiting, because they opposed disrupting the worldwide television coverage.

Who was in the car line-up for the weekend?

Red Bull chose Max Verstappen, aged 17 years and three days, to test him ahead of a possible full-time Toro Rosso seat in 2015. He became the youngest person ever to take part in a Formula One race weekend. Caterham put Roberto Merhi in place of Marcus Ericsson, with Kamui Kobayashi driving in the race.

Formula Renault 3.5 driver Will Stevens was named for the first practice session in Max Chilton's Marussia, but a paperwork problem sent to the FIA Contract Recognition Board, caused by industrial action in Germany, prevented him from driving. Eleven teams entered two race drivers each, with two free practice participants in addition.

How did practice and qualifying unfold?

Rosberg was fastest in the first practice session at 1:35.461, ahead of Hamilton. Verstappen's run ended early when a broken exhaust valve sent smoke from his engine, and Merhi spun at turn 13 and forced Bottas to swerve to avoid him.

Hamilton's best of the second session was 1:35.078, the quickest of the day so far. Ricciardo disrupted the session for eight minutes after a barrier crash at turn 18. Kobayashi lost the rear of his Caterham at turn three, Vergne stopped on the back straight with a fuel pump problem, and a second red flag ended the session early.

Rosberg was quickest in the third session at 1:33.228, ahead of Hamilton and Alonso. Hamilton ran wide at turn one and hit a tyre barrier, damaging the front left of his car. The session was difficult for everyone on the damp circuit, and Gutierrez lost control at the exit of turn 15 but avoided a crash.

Qualifying was in three parts, with 18, 15 and 12-minute sessions. Rosberg set the fastest time in the second and third sessions to take his eighth pole of the season and the twelfth of his career, at 1:32.506. Hamilton joined him on the front row, but he hit the chicane curb on his final lap and accelerated too hard into the last corner.

Bottas and Massa were third and fourth for Williams, and Alonso and Ricciardo took fifth and sixth. Magnussen's mistakes on his timed lap cost him time, and Button flat-spotted a tyre while locking up. Vettel was ninth, struggling on corners partly because Red Bull ran wet tyres, and Raikkonen was tenth with balance problems.

Vergne was the fastest driver outside the final session, but his team changed his engine and he took a ten-place grid penalty, his sixth of the season. Maldonado was also penalised ten places for exceeding his quota of engine components. Perez was pushed back by slower cars in the final chicane, and Hulkenberg locked his tyres there.

Sutil reached the second session after balance changes. Gutierrez lost time in traffic on his out-lap, and Grosjean could not improve because a change in wind direction stopped him setting a faster lap. Chilton lost control of the rear and started 21st, while Ericsson and Bianchi started 17th and 18th.

Mercedes ran race simulations on Friday to see how its cars would behave with a heavy fuel load. Earlier in practice Gutierrez had crashed his Sauber into a tyre barrier after losing control at the Spoon Curve, and Vergne stopped a second time with an electrical problem after exiting turn 14.

How did the race start and what happened in the rain?

Standing water covered much of the circuit at the start, following the typhoon's heavy rain. The air was 20 degrees C and the track 24 degrees C. About 142,000 people watched, and every car ran on full wet tyres. The start was at 15:00 Japan Standard Time, behind the safety car and without a formation lap.

Ericsson lost control after accelerating out of the final turn and spun into the gravel. Marshals pushed him out and he kept racing. Hamilton complained about poor visibility, and the race was suspended after two laps. The cars were driven back into the pit lane, lined up in grid order and had their engines switched off.

Several cars had their ride heights raised to avoid aquaplaning on their underbody planks. Once the rain eased, the race was restarted 20 minutes later under the safety car. Alonso stopped with an electrical issue, possibly a short circuit caused by the wet, and retired on lap three. That promoted Ricciardo to fifth, with Magnussen sixth and Button seventh.

The safety car peeled into the pit lane at the end of lap nine, which opened the way for overtaking. Button pitted immediately for intermediate tyres. Hamilton tried to pass Rosberg into the first corner without success, and Vettel attempted to pass Magnussen at the hairpin, ran wide at Spoon and then stayed on track.

Bottas, Ricciardo, Magnussen and Raikkonen pitted for intermediates on lap 12, and Button moved up to eighth. Massa and Vettel stopped on lap 13, with Vettel moving ahead of Massa and rejoining in front of Ricciardo. Rosberg pitted on lap 14 and rejoined second, 22 seconds behind Hamilton, before retaking the lead as Hamilton approached the pit lane exit.

Hamilton went off at Spoon and then reported oversteer, while Button held a 6.5-second advantage over both Williams cars. Vettel passed Massa at the hairpin on lap 16, and Ricciardo's attempt on the outside at Spoon failed. Magnussen made a second stop at the end of lap 16 to change his steering wheel, and Ricciardo passed Massa for sixth on lap 17.

How did the race end, and what happened to Bianchi?

Although 53 laps had been scheduled, the race was halted on the 46th lap, and the result was taken from lap 44. At the Dunlop curve on the 43rd lap, Bianchi's Marussia slid out of control and struck a recovery tractor working on Adrian Sutil's Sauber, which had spun off a lap earlier. Bianchi suffered severe head injuries.

Bianchi died in France on 17 July 2015. He was the first F1 driver to die of injuries from a race since Senna in 1994. The FIA investigated with a ten-person panel that found no single cause for the crash. The investigation led to a virtual safety car, which was introduced from the 2015 season and slowed the field without a full safety car deployment.

Race facts at a glance

What did the result mean for the title race?

Hamilton's win increased his lead over Rosberg to ten points, with Ricciardo a distant third. In the constructors table the gap to Red Bull widened, and Williams kept third ahead of Ferrari with four races left.

The race is remembered as much for the Bianchi accident as for the title battle. The FIA's response changed how the sport handles a crash on track, and the virtual safety car that followed became one of the more lasting changes made in the aftermath of that day.