“We drive at 300 km/h without seeing anything”

That was fast. The Japanese Grand Prix has been suspended after just one lap of racing. Constant rain and a chaotic start left the race stewards with no other choice: they called the drivers into the pits. Again and again the restart was postponed. The anxious gaze goes to the sky, a termination of the race is likely because of the deteriorating light conditions.

In a chaotic start, two cars flew out. Alex Albon had to park his car in the emergency exit. Carlos Sainz Jr. lost control of his Ferrari due to aquaplaning and hit the side of the gang. However, Sainz got out of his Ferrari unharmed. “The conditions were impossible. I hardly saw anything. It's also really dangerous because I could see something behind me. A flying start with full rain tires would have been best. We drive at 300 km/h without seeing anything," said Sainz.

The safety car came out and did two laps. But then came the decision to interrupt the race. Visibility for the drivers was extremely poor in the spraying rain and the track was very slippery. If the race is started again, all cars have to put on full rain tires, according to the decision of the race management. "We shouldn't have started. The spray is far too strong. I'm surprised and glad nothing worse happened," said Williams driver Alexander Albion.

In the continuous rain, the asphalt cannot dry even during the break. "The weather forecast that we have says that it won't stop raining like this and that it will stay that way for some time," said McLaren team boss Andreas Seidl.

He is very pessimistic about starting a race: "You have to say very clearly, it's just not safe to drive a race at the moment. I think we have to be happy that nothing happened on the first lap in particular, with Carlos crossing the track. It was pure luck that no one on either side took him full throttle.”