The event was the 30th running of the Japanese Grand Prix as a World Championship round, held over 53 scheduled laps at the 5.807 km, 18-turn Suzuka Circuit. Tyre supplier Pirelli brought medium and hard dry compounds as well as intermediate and full-wet weather tyres. The drag reduction system had one activation zone, on the straight linking the final and first corners.
Going into the race, Lewis Hamilton led teammate Nico Rosberg by three points in the Drivers' Championship, with 241 points to Rosberg's 238. Daniel Ricciardo was third with 181. Mercedes led the Constructors' Championship with 479 points, ahead of Red Bull Racing on 305.
Typhoon Phanfone, a category-four storm, was forecast to make landfall on the eastern Japanese coast on race day with winds up to 240 km/h. FIA race director Charlie Whiting suggested moving the start time earlier, but senior FIA officials overruled him to protect worldwide television coverage. Honda, the circuit owners, reportedly also rejected an earlier start to allow spectators to arrive in time.
The weekend included a practice appearance by Max Verstappen, selected by Red Bull Racing to replace Jean-Éric Vergne in Friday practice for Toro Rosso. Aged 17 years and three days, Verstappen was the youngest person in history to participate in a Formula One race weekend.
Nico Rosberg secured pole position with a lap of 1:32.506, his eighth pole of the season and twelfth of his career. Lewis Hamilton took second after hitting the chicane curb on his final flying lap. Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa qualified third and fourth for Williams. Fernando Alonso and Daniel Ricciardo took fifth and sixth. Vergne and Pastor Maldonado both received ten-place grid penalties for exceeding their engine component quotas. Jules Bianchi qualified 18th for Marussia.
Heavy standing water from Typhoon Phanfone's rain covered the track at the start, with air temperature at 20 °C and track temperature at 24 °C. About 142,000 spectators attended. All cars used full-wet tyres and the race began behind the safety car at 15:00 Japan Standard Time, with no formation lap. Following complaints from Hamilton about poor visibility, the race was suspended after two laps. Cars returned to pit lane with engines shut off; several had their ride heights raised against aquaplaning. The race resumed 20 minutes later after the rain eased, again behind the safety car.
Fernando Alonso retired on lap three with an electrical issue. The safety car withdrew at the end of lap nine. Jenson Button immediately pitted for intermediate tyres. Hamilton was unable to pass Rosberg at the first corner; Sebastian Vettel also failed to pass Kevin Magnussen at the hairpin.
DRS was enabled on lap 24. On lap 27, Hamilton forgot to deactivate his DRS and lost rear grip, sending him onto the turn one run-off area. He recovered and on lap 29 overtook Rosberg on the outside entering the first corner to take the lead, pulling away as Rosberg struggled with oversteer.
Heavy rain returned from lap 36. DRS was disabled on lap 41 as visibility deteriorated with fading light and low cloud. Daniel Ricciardo finally passed Button at the hairpin on lap 42. On the same lap, Adrian Sutil aquaplaned his Sauber into the tyre barrier at the left-hand Dunlop Curve atop a hill. Race control ordered double yellow flags at the corner. A tractor crane was deployed to recover Sutil's car and turned backward toward a gap in the barrier. Charlie Whiting did not deploy the safety car, citing the facts as presented did not warrant it.
On lap 43, Jules Bianchi lost control of his Marussia at 213 km/h at the same Dunlop Curve location, veering right toward the run-off area. Although he applied throttle and brake pedals simultaneously, his fail-safe system did not activate because the settings of his brake-by-wire system were incompatible. His car collided with the left-rear wheel of the tractor crane still tending to Sutil's car, briefly jolting the crane off the ground and causing Sutil's suspended car to fall to the ground.
The Marussia's roll bar was destroyed as it slid underneath the crane. Impact data indicated a peak of 254 g, with the collision occurring 2.61 seconds after loss of control, at 123 km/h and an angle of 55 degrees. Bianchi was found unconscious and non-responsive to radio calls. Because helicopter transport was impossible in the weather conditions, he was taken by ambulance with a police escort to Mie Prefectural General Medical Center in Yokkaichi, approximately 15 km and 32 minutes from the circuit.
A second red flag was shown on lap 46, ending the race. Results were taken from the running order at the end of lap 44. Hamilton won by 9.1 seconds over Rosberg, with Vettel third. Rosberg had led 26 of the 44 counted laps, Hamilton the other 18. Out of respect for the injured Bianchi, the top three finishers did not spray champagne on the podium.
CT scans indicated Bianchi had sustained a severe head injury; surgery was performed to reduce cranial bleeding. His family later confirmed a diffuse axonal injury, a traumatic brain injury common in rapid-deceleration accidents. Bianchi was hospitalised in Yokkaichi in critical condition. In November 2014 he was removed from his induced coma and began breathing unaided, enabling transfer to the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nice. He remained unconscious in critical condition there. On 17 July 2015, aged 25, Bianchi died from his injuries. His funeral was held on 21 July at Nice Cathedral, attended by members of the Formula One community.
Controversy arose after amateur video showed a marshal waving a green flag at the crash site. The FIA announced a ten-person review panel composed of former drivers and team principals; its report, published four weeks later in Doha, found no single cause for the accident. Contributing factors identified included track conditions, car speed, and the presence of a recovery vehicle on the track. The panel concluded it would have been impossible to mitigate Bianchi's injuries with changes to cockpit design. The investigation led to the virtual safety car being introduced for the 2015 season. The FIA also mandated that certain Grand Prix start times must be at least four hours before sunset, except for designated night races.
Bianchi and Sutil were classified in 20th and 21st in the final results, having both completed over 90% of the 44-lap distance used to determine the results.
Hamilton's victory extended his Drivers' Championship lead over Rosberg to ten points. Mercedes stretched their Constructors' Championship advantage over Red Bull Racing to 180 points. Williams increased their gap over Ferrari in the battle for third in the Constructors' Championship.
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