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      F1 Japanese Grand Prix: Live stream, TV channel, schedule for practice and qualifying before HUGE Suzuka Circuit race

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      STRAP on your seatbelts Formula One lovers as the Japanese Grand Prix is up next for the racers – and the title could be clinched this weekend.F1 chiefs were forced into making the difficult decision last year to axe the GP at the iconic Suzuka Circuit due to Covid-19.
      Sergio Perez stormed to an incredible Singapore GP winCredit: Rex
      But to the delight of Max Verstappen, organisers have been given the greenlight for it to go ahead with him closing in on a second successive championship win.
      The Red Bull driver blew his chances of wrapping up the title in Singapore by disappointingly finishing seventh on the leaderboards while watching teammate Sergio Perez top the charts.
      However, Verstappen has a huge opportunity to secure silverware as long as he can outrace Charles Leclerc.
      Someone who Verstappen won’t have to worry about is Lewis Hamilton as his dreams of a record winning eighth championship were wiped out last weekend.
      Read More on F1
      When is the Japanese Grand Prix?

      The Japanese Grand Prix is scheduled to take place on Sunday, October 9.
      It is expected to get underway from 6am UK time – 2pm local time.
      Suzuka Circuit in Suzuka, Japan will be the allocated track for this mouth-watering race and it can host a whopping 155,000 spectators.
      Valterri Bottas secured first place on the podium when the race last happened in 2019.

      Valterri Bottas celebrated an outstanding Japanese GP victory in 2019Credit: Reuters
      Is the Japanese Grand Prix on TV and can I live stream it?

      The Japanese Grand Prix will be broadcasted LIVE on Sky Sports F1 in the UK.
      Subscription members of Sky Sports can stream the entire action on the Sky Sports website or Sky Go app.
      Alternatively, head to NOW TV where the race will also be available on all devices and tablets so long as you are subscribed.

      Most read in Motorsport
      Can Max Verstappen win the title this weekend?
      Mathematically, Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez still have outside chances to snatch the title from Verstappen.
      However, a win for Verstappen in Japan would completely wipe out any chances of Perez winning the championship no matter where he finishes.
      And should Leclerc chart lower than second, a Verstappen victory would seal the title.
      What is the Japanese Grand Prix FULL schedule?
      Friday October 7

      Practice 1 – 4am UK
      Practice 2 – 7am UK

      Saturday October 8

      Practice 3 – 4am UK
      Qualifying – 7am UK

      Sunday October 9

      Race – 6am UK More

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      F1 legend Sir Frank Williams left £14million in his will to his three children

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      F1 legend Sir Frank Williams left £14.4million in his will, records reveal.The 79-year-old, who died last November, was founder of the Williams team which he sold for £136million in 2020.
      F1 legend and founder of the Williams team Sir Frank left £14m to his three children
      Williams dominated F1 in the early 1980s and the 1990s with drivers including Damon Hill, Nigel Mansell, Nelson Piquet and Ayrton Senna.
      Sir Frank, from Ascot, Berks, was involved in a car crash in 1986 which left him in a wheelchair for the rest of his life.
      Sir Frank of Ascot, Surrey, became co-founder of Frank Williams Racing Cars in 1966, using money he made from selling car parts to other motor teams.
      But his team suffered after his brewing heir driver Piers Courage died in a crash in 1970, and he ended up borrowing money from Bernie Ecclestone.
      READ MORE ON F1
      Sir Frank’s success was said to be in the wheeling and dealing of running a team, hiring and firing of drivers, and nurturing engineering talent.
      He was a familiar sight at grand prix races in his wheelchair, but stepped back and handed over much of the day-to-day control of the Williams team to his daughter Claire.
      He was a made a CBE in 1987 and knighted in 1999.
      Probate records reveal £14,465,456 was left to his three children after debts and funeral expenses.
      Most read in The Sun
      His wife, Virginia, died of cancer in 2013.
      His will requested that he be buried near to his former team’s premises at Grove, Oxfordshire.
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      Red Bull will argue they overspent on SANDWICHES as Mercedes boss Toto Wolff prepares to miss Japan GP to argue

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      RED BULL will argue they overspent their Formula One budget on SANDWICHES. But Mercedes chief Toto Wolff is preparing to miss the Japanese Grand Prix to argue against his rival team.
      Christian Horner and Toto Wolff’s latest public row regards Red Bull’s spendingCredit: Getty
      Wolff and rival Christian Horner are at loggerheads over the rule that limited teams’ spending last season to £114million amid allegations that Red Bull broke the cost-cap budget.
      SunSport understands the final figure could now tip over the threshold following an assessment by the FIA to a sum that amounts to under £2m.
      It is expected Red Bull will argue that the extra money spent was not directly related to the production of their car and was for other items such as canteen food at the factory, sick pay or wages for staff placed on gardening leave.
      Merc are likely to counter that should have been included from the start.
      READ MORE ON F1
      After all, every pound spent on sandwiches could have been cut from the cost of development on a rear wing.
      Wolff is now considering skipping this weekend’s race at Suzuka so he can lobby his point.
      The £2m overspending would qualify as a ‘minor’ breach of the rules and result in the FIA coming up with a suitable punishment, which Red Bull will either accept or appeal.
      Should they accept, they’d be awarded their compliance certificate with the stipulation they accepted a breach agreement with the FIA.
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      However, it is now looking unlikely that it will change the outcome of last year’s championship and that Red Bull’s Max Verstappen keeps his crown.
      Horner was left in a rage that Wolff had publicly commented on Red Bull’s financial submission, calling foul play on how the Austrian was privy to the confidential document filed to the FIA.
      Despite accusations of the opposite, Horner has maintained his F1 team filed their audited report with their costs actually LOWER than the cap.
      On Sunday night after Sergio Perez’s win in Singapore, the Brit repeated his claim and said: “I’m absolutely confident in our submission.
      “It’s been through a process. It went in in March, in terms of being signed off fully by our auditors, and we believe that we are comfortably within the cap.”
      Red Bull are expected to argue they spent extra on sandwiches and not car researchCredit: AFP More

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      Lewis Hamilton could still be awarded LAST year’s F1 world title as Max Verstappen and Red Bull involved in cheat storm

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      LEWIS HAMILTON could be sensationally handed LAST year’s world title after rival Max Verstappen’s Red Bull team were engulfed in a cheat storm.Red Bull, who were hoping to celebrate Verstappen’s second title win at the Singapore Grand Prix – where he finished seventh – have been accused of breaking F1’s cost-cap rules.
      Lewis Hamilton could be given last year’s world title after all to make up for his Abu Dhabi heartbreakCredit: AP
      Verstappen and his Red Bull team are caught up in a cheat stormCredit: AFP
      Mercedes chief Toto Wolff claimed it would be a “massively heavyweight” issue if Red Bull broke last year’s budget, which was set at £114million.
      If they are found guilty, potential penalties include points deductions or even “exclusion from the championship”.
      That could see Verstappen stripped of the title he won last year in Abu Dhabi and Hamilton installed as winner for a record eighth time.
      Wolff, Hamilton’s boss at Mercedes, was asked if it was serious or just usual F1 politics.
      READ MORE F1 NEWS
      He replied:  “That’s heavyweight, that’s massively heavyweight. It was a huge, mammoth project to make the cap.
      “I don’t know how many tens of millions we had to restructure processes to be below the cap.
      “We are using used parts, we are not running what we would want to run, and we are not developing what we could be developing.
      “We have made more than 40 people redundant.”

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      Red Bull are adamant that they submitted their accounts in March and are under the proposed cost cap.
      The FIA are due to reveal their findings on Wednesday. More

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      Lewis Hamilton, 37, wants to stay in F1 for FIVE more years with Brit in talks to extend £40m-a-season Mercedes deal

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      LEWIS HAMILTON wants to race into his forties by signing a new bumper deal with Mercedes.The seven-time world champ, 37, told his team that he has another five years left in the sport.
      Lewis Hamilton is in talks with Mercedes over a new deal and wants to drive for another FIVE yearsCredit: Getty
      Hamilton’s £40million-a-year deal is up in 15 months but he is in talks with team boss Toto Wolff over an extension.
      Wolff, who lives in Monaco like Hamilton, said: “We speak a lot together.
      “Last week we sat down and he says, ‘Look, I have another five years in me how do you see that?’ Over time we have just grown together.
      “We are totally transparent with each other.
      Read more F1 news
      “Lewis will be the first one to say, ‘I can’t do this any more’ because I feel I haven’t got the reactions any more.
      “Or ‘I’ve just lost fun doing it’ and there is another generation growing up that is just very strong.
      “So I have no doubt that whatever we agree on a contract extension — which is going to happen — that we both are always going to discuss, very openly, what does the future hold.”
      If he signed for another five years, Hamilton would still be racing when he is 42 years old.
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      Hamilton could drive into his 40s, just like old team-mate Fernando AlonsoCredit: Instagram / @mercedesamgf1
      But Wolff does not see age as a limiting factor, with Brit Hamilton’s old rival Fernando Alonso, 41, still racing competitively.
      Wolff told Channel 4: “I don’t know if 40 is that age where you say that is not adequate any more for a racing driver.
      “If you look at where Fernando is with 41 years, he’s still very much there.
      “Now, is he the same Fernando that he was at 25? I don’t know but he’s still very competitive.”
      Wolff also held up NFL star Tom Brady, 45 — a seven-time Super Bowl champ — as an example.
      He added: “You look at Tom Brady, who is somebody I really admire for having the discipline in how he manages his life and his sport, and he’s on the pitch.
      Read More on The Sun
      “So Lewis, with the way he leads his life.
      “With the full, ultra-narrow focus on his Formula One racing —   I think he can take it quite far.” More

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      Ben Hunt: Red Bull and Max Verstappen’s budget scandal D-day may end up being a damp squib but row will rumble on

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      MERCEDES are preparing to be left disappointed by the results of the FIA’s cost-cap investigation due on Wednesday.Merc boss Toto Wolff and Red Bull chief Christian Horner are at loggerheads over the rule that limited teams’ spending last season to £114million.
      Christian Horner was raging at Merc rival Toto WolffCredit: Rex
      Horner was left in a rage that Wolff had publicly commented on Red Bull’s financial submission, calling foul play on how the Austrian was privy to the confidential document filed to the FIA.
      Despite accusations of the opposite, Horner has maintained his team filed their audited report with their costs actually LOWER than the cap.
      On Sunday night, the Brit repeated his claim and said: “I’m absolutely confident in our submission.
      “It’s been through a process. It went in in March, in terms of being signed off fully by our auditors, and we believe that we are comfortably within the cap.”
      READ MORE F1 NEWS
      However, I understand the final figure could now tip over the threshold following an assessment by the FIA to a sum that amounts to under £2m.
      That would then qualify as a ‘minor’ breach of the rules and result in the FIA coming up with a suitable punishment, which Red Bull will either accept or appeal.
      Should they accept, they’d be awarded their compliance certificate with the stipulation they accepted a breach agreement with the FIA.
      However, it is now looking unlikely that it will change the outcome of last year’s championship and that Red Bull’s Max Verstappen keeps his crown.
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      That was the explosive prospect for a ‘material breach’ of the cost cap, which seems will be avoided.
      However, that might still not be the end of the matter.
      It is expected Red Bull will argue that the extra money spent was not directly related to the production of their car and was for other items such as canteen food at the factory, sick pay or wages for staff placed on gardening leave.
      Merc are likely to counter that should have been included from the start. After all, every pound spent on sandwiches could have been cut from the cost of development on a rear wing.
      Wolff is now considering skipping this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix so he can lobby his point.
      It is an incredibly messy situation for the FIA to navigate and there is a growing debate as to how you police identifying how much of last year’s budget was spent on developing this year’s car.
      Tomorrow’s cost-cap D-day may prove to be a damp squib. But the row will rumble on.

      ALIPINE GO WITH GAS
      PIERRE GASLY is expected to be confirmed as an Alpine driver for 2023  this weekend.
      Alpine must stump up for his services as he is under contract with  AlphaTauri, Red Bull’s B-team.
      AlphaTauri are then expected to sign Nyck de Vries, 27, from under the noses of Williams.
      And Nico Hulkenberg is now the leading candidate to replace Mick Schumacher at Haas should they decide not to re-sign the German or the 23-year-old goes to Williams.

      MAX JUST A SHI GUY
      RED BULL are planning yet another marketing stunt — this time at Tokyo’s famous Shibuya Crossing.
      Dubbed the world’s busiest pedestrian crossing with as many as 500,000 people using it  a day, the F1 team have permission to film Max Verstappen driving there.
      Yet, ironically, Sunday’s race winner, Sergio Perez, might not be able to take part as the Japanese authorities have a problem with his  Mexico-issued driver’s licence.
      Sergio Perez might not be able to take part in a Red Bull stunt at Shibuya CrossingCredit: Rex
      HAVING been in the spotlight for most of the season, new FIA president, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, was conspicuous by his absence in Singapore.
      I understand he will miss the Japanese GP, too.
      Curious given Max Verstappen is likely to win the title AND the teams are tangled up in a cost-cap row.

      THE all-female racing championship W Series will make a decision this week on whether to finish the season amid a cash crisis.
      W Series is due to feature at the F1 GPs in Texas and Mexico and has been trying to find a new backer after a lucrative deal collapsed at the 11th hour.
      Read More on The Sun
      A PAIR of Moto3 mechanics who deliberately blocked a rival rider in the pitlane at Aragon have been sacked by the Max Racing Team.
      The staff members were also fined just under £2,000 each for obstructing Tech3 KTM’s Adrian Fernandez during qualifying a fortnight ago. More

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      ‘Never been so angry’ – Moto3 champ fumes as shocking video surfaces of British rider being assaulted by mechanic

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      MOTOGP star Aleix Espargaro says he has “never been so angry” after a shocking clip surfaced of a mechanic assaulting Tom-Booth Amos from 2019.The unbelievable footage showed the Moto3 rider repeatedly being kicked and beaten up by one of his engineers.
      A shocking clip has emerged of Tom-Booth Amos being assaulted by a mechanicCredit: Twitter
      It showed the Brit rider being attacked in the paddock back in 2019Credit: Twitter
      This is the only thing being talked about in the paddock tonight: frankly unbelievable footage of a mechanic attacking Moto3 rider Tom Booth Amos in the garage after the 2019 race at Buriram pic.twitter.com/8meawe4iJk— Simon Patterson (@denkmit) October 1, 2022

      The video of the vile incident appeared online for the first time during last weekend’s Thai Grand Prix.
      After it went viral, the Shropshire-born Booth-Amos soon took to Instagram to confirm that he had “kept quiet” for three years as it was his “dream to stay in the paddock”.
      The 26-year-old only lasted that year with the third-tier CIP Moto KTM team.
      He added: “There was a lot of issues with the team that year that was never spoken about.”
      READ MORE MOTO GP
      That led to Espargaro, who is currently third in the MotoGP title race, telling The Race after watching the footage: “I saw the video, and I’ve never been that angry in all my career.
      “I’ve never seen something like this in a paddock, and I called [MotoGP sporting director] Carlos Ezpeleta and I talked with him.
      “I’m nobody to decide, but I feel like I’m one of the old men of this paddock after almost 20 years in it.
      “We have no riders’ union, but I think that it’s right that the moral riders speak up when something like this happens.”
      Most read in Motorsport
      Espargaro, 33, added: “For me this guy has to be out of the paddock, and Dorna has to go to the courts with him.
      “This is something that we’ve seen in other places, and this is even more dangerous.”
      Portuguese star Miguel Oliveira claimed victory on Sunday in Thailand. More

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      Why does today’s F1 Grand Prix have a countdown clock instead of lap counter?

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      IF you watched the Singapore Grand Prix, you may have noticed a significant difference during the race.The usual lap counter has been replaced by a countdown clock instead.
      The 2022 Singapore Grand Prix had a countdown clock instead of a lap counterCredit: Rex
      Heavy rainfall in Singapore saw the race delayed in the Grand Prix.
      The Safety Car was sent out onto the track to check the conditions soon after, with the rain easing after 50 minutes.
      It was later confirmed by the FIA that the pit lane would open at 1:25pm as the race was given the green light to go ahead.
      The formation lap was then confirmed for 2:05pm after the weather cleared.
      However, with 23 laps remaining in the race, the lap counter has now been replaced by a countdown clock with just under 40 minutes being shown as the time to finish the race.
      Read More Motorsport
      Why is there a clock on today’s Grand Prix instead of laps?
      A countdown clock replacing the lap counter at a Grand Prix is an unusual sight.
      However, due to Formula One rules and regulations, this had to be done.
      Article 5.4) from the FIA reads “should two hours elapse before the scheduled race distance is completed, the leader will be shown the end-of-race signal when he crosses the control line (the Line) at the end of the lap following the lap during which the two (2) hour period ended, provided this does not result in the scheduled number of laps being exceeded.”
      The clock appeared after delays due to the weather, with a race not allowed to go on past two-hours.
      Therefore, the drivers were given 37 minutes to finish, or 23 laps, whichever came first.
      What happens when the clock runs out of time?
      With the countdown clock appearing, several questions were asked.
      The drivers had 37 minutes to finish their race or complete the remaining laps, in this case 23.
      When the clock runs out, the race will be ended at the next full lap rather than allowing the drivers to finish the final laps.
      Most read in Motorsport
      What Grands Prix has this happened at before?
      Earlier in the year, the FIA chiefs decided to switch the lap counter for a timed countdown in the Monaco Grand Prix.
      The event took place in May, with heavy rain and crashes causing severe delays.
      The race did not run it’s traditional 78 laps, instead just 65 were completed.
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