In memory of the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix and the enduring legacy of Jules Bianchi

With the Japanese Grand Prix, part of the 2019 Formula 1 World Championship, coming up this weekend, FanF1 invites us to look back at the events of 2014 and their tragic outcome, which we all remember. Five years later, the world of motorsport continues to pay tribute to Jules Bianchi.

The Japanese Grand Prix turned into a battle against the elements when Typhoon Phanfone hit Suzuka on Sunday, forcing officials to start the race behind the safety car and then interrupt it after just one lap. Marcus Ericsson's Caterham skidded in the final chicane, and the red flag period gave teams a frantic opportunity to reevaluate their strategies.

When the lights finally went out for the second start, the drama shifted from the weather to tactics. Jenson Button, who had qualified in a modest 20th place, gambled on intermediate tires at the first opportunity. The gamble paid off: Button's McLaren moved up the field, matching the pace of the leading Mercedes and eventually climbing to third place, while Valtteri Bottas and Daniel Ricciardo were forced to give up positions with less competitive tires.

Behind the scenes, the championship continued to evolve. Lewis Hamilton retook the lead in the standings with a three-point advantage after his second consecutive victory in Singapore, taking advantage of an electronic failure suffered by his teammate Nico Rosberg. Rosberg, however, arrived in Japan with renewed determination, having not been on the podium since the German Grand Prix in July. He rose to the occasion by setting the fastest time in Q2 and Q3 to claim the 12th pole position of his career with a lap of 1:32.506, beating Hamilton by 0.197 seconds.

This weekend also marked a historic milestone for the sport: 17-year-old Max Verstappen became the youngest driver to participate in an official Formula 1 session, taking the wheel of a Toro Rosso at Suzuka. Despite a gearbox problem and an engine that smoked at the end of the race, the Dutch rookie finished his debut, heralding the arrival of a new generation.

Williams drivers Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa took second and fourth place, while Fernando Alonso finished fifth for Ferrari. Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso) and Pastor Maldonado (Lotus-Renault) both received a ten-place penalty on the starting grid for exceeding their engine quota. On a circuit that favored the Mercedes duo, Romain Grosjean could only manage 18th place, two places ahead of his French compatriot Jules Bianchi in the Marussia.

As the race progressed under increasingly favorable conditions, Hamilton slipped into Rosberg's slipstream, with the German defending his lead with his usual composure. Button's bold tire choice and quick pit work shook up the standings, turning a race threatened by a typhoon into a display of strategic finesse and emerging talent.

The day, which had begun with a battle for podium places, turned into a stark reminder of the dangers of motorsport when, on lap 42, Sauber's Adrian Sutil lost control in the wet Dunlop corner, crashing into the tire wall and causing two yellow flags to be deployed. A recovery vehicle was already on site when Jules Bianchi, still battling for points, aquaplaned at the same spot a lap later and collided violently with the team car. The French rookie was rushed to the circuit's medical center, unconscious, while the helicopter that could have taken him to the hospital was grounded by the incessant rain. The accident would cost him his life on July 17, 2015, marking the first death in Formula 1 since that of Ayrton Senna twenty years earlier.

Before the tragedy occurred, the race had been very competitive. Rosberg and Jules Bianchi made their pit stops on lap 14, followed a lap later by Hamilton, after a small mistake on his pit stop cost him a few tenths of a second in his duel with Rosberg. On lap 16, the leaders were Rosberg, Hamilton, Button, Bottas, and Massa; the Williams duo were already losing ground, with Massa losing two places to Vettel and Ricciardo (Red Bull) on lap 17, and Bottas losing two places two laps later.

Hamilton stepped up his pursuit in the DRS zone, but his first attempt to overtake Rosberg on lap 23 failed, as did his second attempt in the first corner on lap 29. The German defended the inside line, but Rosberg finally gave up the lead on the outside at the next opportunity. All the leaders made their second pit stops between laps 32 and 36, just as the rain returned on lap 37, prompting Ricciardo, still the only leader yet to make his stop, to dive into the pits. When the field reshuffled on lap 40, the top five were Hamilton, Rosberg, Vettel, Button, and Ricciardo. Sensing that the rain was about to intensify, Button took the risk of switching to rain tires on lap 41, abandoning the intermediate tires. The race was stopped one lap after the safety car intervention, and Hamilton crossed the finish line to claim his eighth win of the season, his third in a row and the 30th of his career, followed by Rosberg and Vettel. Jean-Eric Vergne finished ninth, scoring points.

In the overall standings, Hamilton now has 266 points, ten more than Rosberg (256), while Ricciardo remains firmly in third place with 193 points. However, this triumph will forever be overshadowed by the tragic events of the day.

Mercedes dominated the top two spots, with Lewis Hamilton taking the win and 25 points, while his teammate Nico Rosberg finished second and earned 18 points. Red Bull took the next two spots: Sebastian Vettel finished third with 15 points and Daniel Ricciardo fourth with 12 points. Jenson Button took fifth place for McLaren, adding 10 points. Williams saw Valtteri Bottas finish sixth (8 points) and Felipe Massa seventh (6 points). Force India's Nico Hülkenberg took eighth place with 4 points, Toro Rosso's Jean-Eric Vergne ninth with 2 points, and Sergio Pérez rounded out the top 10 for Force India with a single point.