Japanese Grand Prix Qualifying CANCELLED as Typhoon Hagibis nears

Qualifying for the 2019 Japanese Grand Prix, due to take place today, has been cancelled as Typhoon Hagibis approaches and Suzuka gets locked down.

The approach of Typhoon Hagibis on Japan has already caused havoc for the Rugby World Cup, leaving Scotland potentially between a rock and a hard place as they strive to go through.

But Rugby isn’t the only sport to find Hagibis’ approach a bit of a problem, and qualifying for the 2019 Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka, which should be today, has been cancelled.

Grand Prix organisers said they has decided to cancel qualifying for Saturday in the interests of safety, not just for teams and drivers but for spectators too, with the hope that qualifying can take place before the race on Sunday.

That would mean Sunday qualifying at Suzuka at 10am – which will mean 2am in the UK if you’re planning to watch it – with the race scheduled to start at 2:10pm (6:10am in the UK), assuming it’s safe.

But if organisers decide that it’s not safe enough to have qualifying in the morning, then the grid – if the race goes ahead – will be based on final practice.

That grid would see a Mercedes front row, with Bottas on pole and Max Verstappen in third, splitting Mercedes from the Ferraris of Leclerc and Vettel in fourth and fifth.