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Japanese GP
2018 Formula 1 Japanese GP
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Formula 1
Japanese GP
Japanese Grand Prix race day
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Hamilton leads the field back onto the grid.
Will today live up to its promise for Toro Rosso and Honda? Team boss Franz Tost declared the team had to be in Q3 with the upgraded engine - Brendon Hartley and Pierre Gasly start an outstanding sixth and seventh.
Vettel was only ninth fastest in qualifying, but was then given one place back when Ocon was given a three-place grid penalty for driving too fast under a red flag situation in final practice.
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Vettel isn't the only frontrunner who has to come through the field today - Daniel Ricciardo's actuator failure at the start of Q2 yesterday left him 15th on the grid.
Green flag
The formation lap begins, everyone away cleanly.
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Here's the full grid line-up and their tyre choices:
1 Hamilton (S)
2 Bottas (S)
3 Verstappen (SS)
4 Raikkonen (SS)
5 Grosjean (S)
6 Hartley (SS)
7 Gasly (SS)
8 Vettel (SS)
9 Perez (SS)
10 Leclerc (S)
11 Ocon (SS)
12 Magnussen (S)
13 Sainz (S)
14 Stroll (S)
15 Ricciardo (S)
16 Hulkenberg (M)
17 Sirotkin (S)
18 Alonso (S)
19 Vandoorne (S)
20 Ericsson (S)
1 Hamilton (S)
2 Bottas (S)
3 Verstappen (SS)
4 Raikkonen (SS)
5 Grosjean (S)
6 Hartley (SS)
7 Gasly (SS)
8 Vettel (SS)
9 Perez (SS)
10 Leclerc (S)
11 Ocon (SS)
12 Magnussen (S)
13 Sainz (S)
14 Stroll (S)
15 Ricciardo (S)
16 Hulkenberg (M)
17 Sirotkin (S)
18 Alonso (S)
19 Vandoorne (S)
20 Ericsson (S)
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Nearest challenger to Mercedes on the grid is Max Verstappen's Red Bull, but his team boss Christian Horner just said on the grid that the start is going to be Verstappen's only hope of interrupting the Mercedes. Horner reckons Verstappen needs to clear a Mercedes "by the lights" as once they stop being traction limited, they'll be gone.
Don't expect the weather to shake anything up, though - it's dry and sunny at Suzuka this afternoon.
We have an all-Mercedes front row, and Sebastian Vettel down in eighth after a terrible qualifying session for Ferrari. On paper, this race looks like it will be another day of Lewis Hamilton crushing Vettel's title hopes, but there are a lot of laps to unfold yet.
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the Japanese Grand Prix.
By: Geoff Creighton
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