Top ten pictures from the 2017 Japanese Grand Prix

Ten of the best pictures which tell the story of the 2017 Japanese Grand Prix weekend.

Lance Stroll

Lance Stroll isn’t old enough to drink alcohol in Japan or Texas, so at the last race and the next one the logos of team title sponsor Martini won’t appear on his clothing or helmet. They’re still on his car, though.

Stoffel Vandoorne

Stoffel Vandoorne’s Suzuka headgear came courtesy of a fan. As usual there was no shortage of superbly attired F1 fans at Suzuka.

Carlos Sainz Jnr

It turned out to be Carlos Sainz Jnr’s last weekend at Toro Rosso: He will replace Jolyon Palmer at Renault from the next race. Unfortunately he had a tough one, crashing in practice and the race.

Pierre Gasly

Much speculation surrounded whether Pierre Gasly would remain at Toro Rosso for the next race or stay at Suzuka for a crack at the Super Formula title.

Kimi Raikkonen

Kimi Raikkonen stuck his car in a barrier at Degner in final practice and his weekend never really recovered from there.

Takuma Sato

Former F1 driver and 2017 Indianapolis 500 winner Takuma Sato was on hand to demonstrate the Honda RA300 which John Surtees used to win the Italian Grand Prix 50 years ago.

Sebastian Vettel

For the second weekend running Ferrari had a crisis on the grid. Photographers were discouraged from snapping the engine bay in Sebastian Vettel’s car as they scrambled to replace a faulty spark plug.

Start

Lewis Hamilton kept his lead from pole position as the race began.

Max Verstappen and Sebastian Vettel

But within a few corners it was clear Vettel was in trouble, and Max Verstappen pounced on him at the hairpin. The Ferrari retired soon afterwards, dealing a potentially fatal blow to his championship hopes.

Lewis Hamilton

Hamilton’s Mercedes didn’t let him down and his eighth victory of 2017 means a fourth world championship looks increasingly likely.

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