OCTOBER 13, 2019

The drivers unexpected gift

Because all track activities on Saturday were cancelled due to the looming tsunami in Japan, the F1 drivers got an unexpected free gift of a Saturday on a race weekend with nothing to do. So what did the drivers plan to do on Saturday?

By Dan Knutson in Suzuka

Because all track activities on Saturday were cancelled due to the looming tsunami in Japan, the F1 drivers got an unexpected free gift of a Saturday on a race weekend with nothing to do. So what did the drivers plan to do on Saturday?

Actually, because the news came late, the drivers and the teams did not really have time to plan anything.

"I still need to speak to the team about what is the plan," Valtteri Bottas said. "We might have some meetings, make the most out of it, for sure try to chill, and also try to dig into the data as well."

Max Verstappen said he would spend a lot of time looking at the data gathered by his engineers.

"And I will probably set up a FIFA tournament with some of the other drivers," Verstappen added. "I'm not worried about doing qualifying and the race on Sunday as it won't affect my approach. We can't change the weather and it's out of our control, so now we just have to see what happens on Sunday."

His teammate Alexander Albon said: "At the moment I've got nothing planned but I've heard there's a bowling alley in our hotel so maybe we'll do that!"

Daniel Ricciardo quipped that he might go swimming or jet skiig or sit around a campfire with friends.

Lance Stroll commented: "With everything cancelled tomorrow, it's quite a strange feeling. There are not a massive amount of things to do in the hotel and we won't be going outside. So I guess we will hang out and watch some movies until the weather improves."

For the mechanics and crew members, there was plenty of work to do on Friday before any thoughts about what to do with some free time on Saturday.

"We're going to be working our normal schedule tonight so that the cars are ready for a Sunday morning qualifying when we leave here around midnight," Andrew Shovlin, the chief race engineer at Mercedes, said on Friday. "We'll be packing down some of the equipment tonight to avoid it getting damaged in the typhoon and making sure the cars and garage kit are safe from damage if we get a flood.

"We may not be allowed into the circuit tomorrow so that will mean having some meetings at the hotel to prepare for a very busy Sunday. It's always quite difficult to deal with both qualifying and race in a day but the challenge is good fun and we're looking forward to it. We hope everyone stays safe tomorrow and that the circuit survives the storm so we can put on a good show for the fans on Sunday."