Typhoon Hagibis made landfall on the island of Honshu in Japan overnight and hit the Suzuka circuit – site of the 2019 Japanese Grand Prix. FiA – Formula One’s governing body – had already closed the track ahead of the tropical super storm and moved the qualifying session to later today, a mere four hours before the scheduled race start time.
According to an official statement from Formula One:
“Qualifying will move to 10:00 Sunday morning [6pm Saturday, Pacific]…”with the race taking place at 1410 local time [10:10pm Saturday, Pacific], as planned. Saturday’s third practice session will not be rescheduled.
“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”.
“The FIA and Formula 1 support this decision in the interest of safety for the spectators, competitors and everyone at the Suzuka Circuit.”
In addition to heavy rains – Kanagawa prefecture, just northeast of Suzuka, received 37 inches of rain – and winds brought on by Typhoon Hagibis, a moderate 5.3 earthquake also hit the region.