Jules Bianchi suffers head injury after accident in Japanese Grand Prix

Jules Bianchi of Marussia has suffered a severe head injury and is undergoing surgery after suffering a horrible accident in the Japanese Grand Prix. Following surgery he is to be moved to intensive care.

He had spun off at turn 7 and hit a recovery vehicle that was picking up Adrian Sutil’s Sauber which had hit the wall at the same corner the lap before. It appears as if the Marussia struck the back of the tractor causing the race to be stopped with nine laps to the end.

The FIA has released a statement saying "The CT scan shows that he has suffered a severe head injury and is currently undergoing surgery. Following this, he will be moved to intensive care where he will be monitored."

The Grand Prix took place at its scheduled time despite the threat of a super typhoon heading towards the circuit in Suzuka. There will be a lot of conjecture about what should and shouldn’t have taken place today and at what time but the fact is it did, and I don’t think the horrible accident to have injured Bianchi should affect people’s opinions on that.

When Bianchi’s Marussia hit into the JCB that was picking up Sutil’s already crashed Sauber it was nothing to do with if and when the race should have taken place, it was just a terrible accident. The rain had got heavier after a convenient break in the weather allowed the race to go ahead but an incident like this could even have happened at a dry race, although as Sutil said after he believes a safety car might have been appropriate to allow his car to be rescued. He also reported ‘aquaplaning at this corner’ which appears to have caught out him and Bianchi.

Having said that it’s not your usual situation when there’s a rain storm and you can’t judge how much rain there will be. They knew a typhoon was heading for the track days ago and that the start time was only two and a half hours before sunset. There was obvious potential for the race to be delayed and they had plenty of opportunity to move the race to an earlier start time but the circuit owners Honda refused. This seems like it would have been the sensible option but as so often happens in Formula 1, the sensible option is often the route least likely to be taken.

However, in the end I don’t believe that this had any effect on the race, it was just a wet race and it certainly didn’t really contribute to Bianchi’s accident. With hindsight, perhaps given the conditions there should have been a safety car when Sutil crashed.

For the future maybe there should be more cranes around circuits to pick up a car without having to send a recovery vehicle on to the track. Formula 1 cars are very low down and if striking a higher vehicle can have terrible consequences as Marussia know from the terrible incident with Maria de Villota during straight line testing in 2012.

Bianchi is part of the Ferrari driver academy and has been tipped to one day driver for the Scuderia after impressing during the last two years and scoring Marussia’s first points earlier this year. It can only be hoped he makes a full recovery.

all photos taken from autosport.com

Kvyat the big winner as Vettel leaves Red Bull

Sebastian Vettel is to leave Red Bull at the end of the year with Daniil Kvyat to take his place in the current World Champion team. Red Bull all but confirmed Vettel is off to Ferrari, most likely in place of Fernando Alonso whose relationship with the Scuderia has fallen apart, while Alonso is likely to end up with McLaren.

A shocking announcement to wake up to as qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix got underway. Nico Rosberg took pole position ahead of Lewis Hamilton to set up another enticeing battle in the championship fight but all talk was for the driver movements affecting 2015.

Vettel's decision to leave comes as a complete surprise. Not so much that he's leaving Red Bull but how soon it is to happen. Although not confirmed by Ferrari it is almost certain that's where he's off to, but why?

Well Red Bull haven't been as good this year, Technical director Adrian Newey is going to step back, he's been taking a beating from Daniel Ricciardo and perhaps he wants to prove to the doubters that he can win in another team as many still seem to think he only won because he was in the best car. It's sound reasoning therefore that he would want to take up a new challenge and get Ferrari back to the top.

Although if Alonso can't win with them and they're in a worse state than ever it seems a curious decision. It's no secret Vettel has struggled to adapt to these new cars this year, I'd have thought stick with what you know and see how Ferrari get on next year, meanwhile do your best to get one over on Ricciardo.

But what if Ricciardo continued to beat him next year? Vettel's market value would diminish and potentially he could be left with fewer options about where to go. There's so many permutations to this it could be assessed forever. In the end it's probably a wise decision as Ferrari will of course one day get it right again, but how soon? And as one F1 journalist tweeted today, if Vettel struggles with them will they be left reflecting on how Alonso would be doing, or worse how Ricciardo would have done?

One thing we know for sure is that Alonso can drive round a bad car, but Vettel seems to need things more suited to him, it's going to be fascinating to see how this pans out. There's so much more to this situation as well, what of Kimi Raikkonen? Will he stay after such a miserable season. Vettel and Kimi are two drivers who have openly admitted they've struggled to adapt to these new turbo cars, is this what Ferrari want to lead them? Meanwhile this looks like it certainly means Alonso is on his way.

With all the management changes going on at Ferrari and the relationship between driver and team on the critical list at least since last year when Alonso criticised the team, it was inevitable that he would leave but I think most people thought it would come next year.

After the catastropic 2007 campaign he had with McLaren no one would have thought he'd end up back there but negotiations are on-going and it'll no longer be a surprise to see him end up back there. Ron Dennis wants the best drivers, and like at Ferrari there's been a lot of restructuring in the management and in the technical departments, so perhaps both team and Alonso are putting the past behind them to look to a brighter future.

More importantly though Honda want a big name driver, McLaren's new engine partner for 2015. They have long since targeted Alonso and I think whether Ron liked it or not, they were going to get their way as they aim to re-start their latest stint in F1 in a positive fashion. Honda will spend what they need to secure wins and like Ferrari it is inevitable that they will get it right again one day. But how soon?

Alonso is desperate for a third title and after five years of trying at Ferrari, they've not been able to make it work. We know he has a reputation for sometimes putting teams on edge, but for so long they seemed very much in love, how can this relationship have fallen apart so dramatically? Maybe he was demanding too much, maybe the new management at Ferrari had had enough of him looking for other options or were tired of everyone believing Alonso was carrying the team (which to be fair, he has been). Whatever it is, it's not a harmonious departure.

On that note how long can Alonso suffer another team in flux? It'll take a while for Honda and McLaren to get it right, perhaps he might take a year out, perhaps we're about to get another bombshell regarding a drive at Mercedes. Who knows? Alonso seems quite relaxed and happy and says he knows, so thats who. 

If Alonso is to go to McLaren I would think it'll be at the expense of Jenson Button. I think after the investment they've put into Kevin Magnussen who is at the start of his career they'll decide to stick with the Dane. But Button would raise his game considerably up against Alonso, like he did with Hamilton so it could be argued they should stick with him and give Magnussen a year out?

Unfortunately for Jenson that scenario is unlikely and it looks like it could be his last year in Formula 1 because as a former world champion do you really want to race for say Force India? Probably not. It would be a sad way to end, but nothing is confirmed yet.

Arguably it could be said that Vettel and Alonso are swapping their current seats for potentially worse seats, at least in the current situation, so you have to say that Kvyat's move from Toro Rosso to Red Bull is the really big winner in the driver moves.

What an opportunity for the young Russian driver after only one year in the junior team to be promoted to the four time champions. He has to believe Renault are going to make a huge improvement on the power unit and Red Bull will still have a car which will have been predominantly overseen by Adrian Newey despite him stepping back, at least for 2015.

He has been mostly hugely impressive this year and you could say looked better against his team mate Jean-Eric Vergne than even Ricciardo did last year, especially when you consider it's his rookie campaign. It could be quite a close battle at Red Bull next year and I don't think you can say their driver line up looks less despite the loss of a four time champion because quite simply Ricciardo has been brilliant and is a star in his own right while Kvyat looks a worthy addition for the reasons I've just given. Potentially if you look at the comparisons between drivers at Red Bull and Toro Rosso, then he could be in line to be the first Russian world champion in Formula 1. You got to say that it is not an unlikely scenario.

Vergne is rightly annoyed too that he was looked over. But it was never going to be him moving to Red Bull when Max Verstappen was announced for Toro Rosso. He's matched the 2015 Red Bull line-up, he deserves a seat but like Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari before him, the Red Bull young driver program is ruthless.

It's also been rumoured Nico Hulkenberg might be off to sports cars which would be a great shame as he has deserved a seat in a top team for years but it seems he will be continued to be overlooked and admittedly he hasn't been quite as on it this year, perhaps for this reason. Force India say he is under contract for 2015.

A roller coaster of a Saturday morning and so many different scenarios, reasons and arguments that can be presented for all this situations. It's fascinating and there's probably a few more shocks to come in this crazy world of F1.

all photos taken from autosport.com

The Japanese Grand Prix Forecast

The Japanese Grand Prix held at the Suzuka track is a true drivers circuit. Quick changes of direction with daunting corners such a the S curves, the Degners, Spoon and not forgetting 130R which the drivers will hold on through at 200mph. It's the only figure of eight circuit as well, it's little wonder the drivers love it for all 53 laps.

Once a track of championship showdowns, its place on the calendar these days prevent it being the decider but it's still a much looked forward to challenge for the drivers and highly anticipated by the fans. This year with the slashing of down force and higher torque from the power units should see some spectacular driving as they try to keep their machines under control.

There is just one DRS zone in Japan on the start finish straight. The corners come upon you so quickly and the circuit being fairly narrow makes it very difficult to include a second one, not that it's needed anyway, I think that most if not all tracks should only include one DRS zone. Except at Abu Dhabi which is a track which although looking amazing as the sun sets is devoid of any major passing opportunities, but hey, its the double points finale, what better place to hold it...

Pirelli are bringing the medium and hard compound tyres used last at the similarly high speed Silverstone. Strategy is probably going to be two stops but the weather could play a part as at the time of writing it looks like quite the mixed bag. Friday has thunderstorms, qualifying should be dry but cloudy while Sunday could offer us a proper wet race which would be a challenge as the title battle hot's up.

It's the last thing the two title contenders will want as they home into the finishing straight of this titanic battle, they'll want it to be as straightforward as possible. Lewis Hamilton finally got back the lead of the championship for the first time since Spain, lets see if he can keep it longer than a race this time as he bids to crush the hopes of Nico Rosberg.

Rosberg is a man who seems desperately in need of any hope at the moment. Since his collision with Hamilton at Spa it's just not gone right for him. Soundly beaten in Italy and then his race ruined by reliability problems in Singapore for Rosberg this is a must win race to get back the momentum or at least stop Lewis' spiralling out of control. 

But this track is one where Hamilton desperately wants to win. Regarded as a classic it's one of the few he hasn't won and he'd already targeted it even as the champagne dried on his overalls after the Singapore race. Last season as team mates the Mercedes drivers had a poor time but Hamilton was quicker than Rosberg. It's going to be tough for Rosberg to level up again. Lewis looks confident, but the one shining hope is that Lewis has suffered such an up and down season, even career, that you can't ever guarantee how anything will play out.

The one thing each driver will want now is perfect reliability from their Mercedes team. It's becoming a bit of an on-going saga for the team, they seem to have been increasing the number of problems rather than lessening since the start of the season.

Neither driver will be happy if the other one gets a problem through the weekend as if it could happen to him then there's no guarantee it won't happen to their car too. As well as that I think both drivers would like to feel they've won it by themselves, not because of retirements. It's one of the things Mercedes are prioritising, it's already cost them a lot of points. Lucky for them they have such an advantage, but looking forward to next season as all teams will be by now, they'll want to work out their troubles sooner rather than later as by 2015 a few teams may well have caught up.

One team hoping to catch the Silver Arrows a bit earlier is Williams. They come to Japan with a major update and with confidence from Singapore in what they described as operationally the best the team has been. They've often been the main challenger to Mercedes this year but they haven't managed to get the wins that Red Bull have when they've been second best. 

Perhaps this race is an opportunity for the Martini backed squad to get to the top step of the podium with Felipe Massa more likely than Valtteri Bottas to secure it on recent form. I can't see it, I'm not sure their update is going to get rid of all their downforce troubles and they don't only have to contend with Mercedes but with Red Bull too.

Red Bull have arguably the best chassis on the grid, let down only by the Renault power unit which is steadily getting better. If the development regulations for engines are unfrozen next season they may be on level par quicker than expected as well as Ferrari. But that's beside the point, the twists and turns of Suzuka are tailor made for Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo to exploit their cars, they may just spring a surprise.

Vettel is getting better and even Ricciardo feels they're operating equally now. However I still feel that Vettel is uncomfortable in the car but then again he did beat Ricciardo in Singapore to get his best result of the season. Ricciardo was afflicted with technical problems though, so if they are on equal footing now it'll be fascinating to see if Vettel can continue to re-assert himself within the team.

Ferrari should have had a much better result in Singapore than they ended up with. Kimi Raikkonen looked on it but various factors meant he couldn't exploit his pace. Fernando Alonso lost out in the safety car. But after looking like potentially the second best team, they're going to drop back again in Japan. Kimi says he is now feeling more at one with his car but that'll make little difference as they try to get third off Williams in the constructors.

Alonso is confident they can, but I fail to see the reason why. Maybe he just needs to believe that as this season has been a total write-off for the double champion. It's not been as bad as McLaren who still lurk behind Force India in the teams title race. Both Mercedes powered teams will hope for positive results. McLaren blew a decent result last time out when Jenson Button's car failed him and Kevin Magnussen nearly got cooked leaving Force India to pick up the pieces. 

Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez have been off the pace in qualifying recently but their race pace is still ok. However, they are losing ground and I do expect McLaren to have the beating of them by the end of the year. The fact I'm writing about McLaren in this situation shows how far they have fallen.

Lotus will want to add a few points, Sauber will just want a point while Marussia look to hang on. Toro Rosso are debuting teenage sensation Max Verstappen in first practice. Despite turning 17 recently all eyes will be on him as he becomes the youngest driver to compete in a Grand Prix weekend. I'm not sure they'll put him on fast runs but it'll be interesting to see how he stacks up against their most recent young driver graduate Daniil Kvyat.

Despite protestations to the contrary it's not certain that Caterham will even compete this weekend due to financial difficulties. So the rumours go, a number of items were seized by bailiffs including the new front wing Caterham had hope would lift them above Marussia. These rumours go so far as to suggest staff were asked to leave the factory premises in Leafield. The team have issued a statement saying the rumours are 'unfounded and unsubstantiated...all operations are currently in place at Leafield and the race team is doing its preparation in Japan'. At least they still haven't manage to see Kamui Kobayashi's seat for his home Grand Prix.

Whether true or not it brings into sharper focus the recent talks about third cars for some of the top teams. Over the past few weeks there has been some debate about three car teams if the grid were to fall below 20 cars. With the potential demise of Caterham and other outfits known to be struggling these talks could be come a reality sooner rather than later.

I don't think that should happen at all, it would just end up as a two or three make championship, defeating the point of Formula 1. The weighting of the money given to teams is vastly one sided with the rich teams simply getting richer and creating a chasm between the haves and the never hads. Of course FOM and F1 owners CVC get a lot of money too, probably too much. The only difference in the money the teams receive should be the prize money they get at the end of the year and then you'd have a sustainable sport which can quit worrying about if a team drops out and then they can all compete on a more level footing...such things are but dreams in the world of F1.

The radio ban on drivers receiving help lessened as the weekend went on and there were some decidedly helpful messages during the weekend, but in the end it didn't effect much and I really don't see what the fuss is about. The drivers are still driving they're just using everything they can to make themselves faster, like they've always done.

Interesting talking points, intense competition in the pack behind Mercedes and a thrilling title battle heading towards the final quarter. Japan has the makings of an unmisable race.

all photos taken from autosport.com