SUZUKA, Japan — Qualifying day at the Japanese Grand Prix has been cancelled due to the impact Typhoon Hagibis is expected to have on the Suzuka area on Saturday.
Final practice and qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix were due to be held on Saturday, but the increasing threat from high winds and heavy rain has resulted in the circuit cancelling all activities at Suzuka on Saturday.
Qualifying will be rescheduled for 10:00am local time on Sunday morning, after the typhoon is forecast to have passed. The race is still scheduled for its original slot at 2:10pm local time on Sunday.
Japan’s Meteorological Agency has classed Hagibis as a very strong typhoon, its second highest category, and is predicting it to make landfall on Saturday afternoon to the east of Mie Province where Suzuka is based. However, high winds and heavy rain are forecast in Suzuka throughout Saturday, with peak rainfall expected at 3:00pm local time when qualifying was originally scheduled.
The risk to spectators travelling to the circuit, combined with the expected conditions being far too extreme for track action, led to the race promoters Mobilityland and the Japanese Automobile Federation agreeing to cancel Saturday’s running.
« As a result of the predicted impact of Typhoon Hagibis on the Formula One Japanese Grand Prix 2019, Mobilityland and the Japanese Automobile Federation (JAF) have decided to cancel all activities scheduled to take place on Saturday, 12 October, » a statement said. « The FIA and Formula One support this decision in the interest of safety for the spectators, competitors and everyone at the Suzuka Circuit. »
Qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix has been postponed twice before at Suzuka in 2004 and 2010 when bad weather hit on the Saturday of the race weekend. In both instances, qualifying was held on Sunday morning ahead of the race.
In 2004 the weather was caused by Typhoon Ma-on, a tropical cyclone that was comparable in size to Typhoon Hagibis. In 2010 the bad weather was not caused by a typhoon, but track conditions still proved too treacherous for qualifying to get underway on Saturday afternoon.
http://www.espn.com/f1/story/_/id/27817006/saturday-track-activity-japan-cancelled-due-typhoon-hagibis
