Mercedes extended their advantage over Red Bull in the World Constructors' Championship, and Williams remained ahead of Ferrari in the battle for third place with four races left in the season.

[11] Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said that the championship was out of their reach, although he hoped further reliability problems with the Mercedes cars would prolong the battle.

[13] Typhoon Phanfone, classified as a category-four storm, was forecast to make landfall over the eastern Japanese coast on race day with heavy rain and winds of up to 240 km/h (150 mph).

Bernie Ecclestone, owner of Formula One's commercial rights, raised the possibility of moving up the start time,[15] but later said that the event would proceed as planned.

[2] Red Bull selected Formula Three driver Max Verstappen to replace Jean-Éric Vergne to test him as part of his preparation for a full-time seat at Toro Rosso in the 2015 season.

[23] Formula Renault 3.5 Series driver Will Stevens was announced as participating in the first practice session in Max Chilton's car,[24] but a problem with paperwork sent to the FIA Contract Recognition Board due to an industrial action in Germany prevented him from driving.

Alonso was third-fastest, ahead of Valtteri Bottas, Kimi Räikkönen, Kevin Magnussen, Ricciardo, Jenson Button, Vettel and Daniil Kvyat.

[28] Verstappen's run ended early when he pulled over to the side of the track at the S curves with smoke billowing from his engine because of a broken exhaust valve,[27][29] while Merhi spun at turn 13, causing Bottas to swerve to avoid him.

Hamilton drove quickly into the first turn but ran wide onto a run-off area and collided with a tyre barrier, damaging the left front quarter of his car.

Kvyat's final timed lap was disrupted by slower cars; when he entered the first corner his tyres had not reached their optimum temperature, compromising his run and leaving him 12th.

[37] Pastor Maldonado failed to advance beyond the first qualifying session,[37] but Lotus installed a new engine (his sixth of the year) in his E22 chassis on Friday morning.

[41] His teammate, Romain Grosjean, took over 16th position and aimed to qualify higher; however, a change in wind direction prevented him from recording a faster lap time.

[44] The race began behind the safety car at 15:00 Japan Standard Time (UTC+09:00), with no formation lap; despite the slow speed, drivers struggled for grip on the wet surface.

[45] Hamilton unsuccessfully attempted to overtake Rosberg heading into the first corner,[42][44] while Vettel tried to pass Magnussen going into the hairpin, also without success; he then ran wide at the Spoon Curve but remained on the track.

[45] At the end of the first racing lap, Rosberg led Hamilton by 1.3 seconds;[42] followed by Bottas, Massa, Ricciardo, Magnussen, Vettel, Räikkönen, Pérez and Kvyat.

[44] Gutiérrez lost ninth position on lap 30 when he was passed by Kvyat, who drove through standing water on the inside of the pit lane straight and used DRS.

[42] On lap 38, Magnussen ran wide onto the first-turn run-off area, while Vergne went off the track at the second corner and Vettel drove into a gravel trap at the S-turns;[44] all three drivers continued running.

[56] Bianchi collided with the left-rear wheel of the tractor crane,[52] which caused extensive damage to his car; its roll bar was destroyed as it slid underneath.

[51] Transport by helicopter was impossible due to the weather, so Bianchi was taken by ambulance with a police escort to Mie Prefectural General Medical Center in Yokkaichi, about 15 km (9.3 mi, a 32-minute drive) from the track.

Kvyat, Räikkönen and Gutiérrez filled the next three positions, each one lap behind Hamilton, with Magnussen, Grosjean, Maldonado, Ericcson, Chilton and Kobayashi the last of the classified finishers who were not involved in any incident.

[48] At a later press conference, Hamilton said that he was confident in his car's balance when he passed Rosberg on lap 28, and saw no difference in the amount of standing water on the track when more heavy rain fell.

[62] His father, Philippe, initially reported to L'Équipe that Bianchi was in critical condition with a head injury and was undergoing an operation to reduce severe cranial bleeding.

[64] The FIA then said that CT scans indicated that Bianchi sustained a "severe head injury" in the crash, and would be admitted to the intensive care unit after surgery.

[65] The first family update after Bianchi's emergency surgery was made by his father during the week of 13 October; the driver was reportedly in a "desperate" condition, with doctors saying that his survival would be a miracle.

[n 3] Four-time world champion Alain Prost said that the marshal should have moved away from the crash scene, but five-time 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Emanuele Pirro said that it was normal practice and anyone who said otherwise was "mistaken".

[60] Driver steward Mika Salo defended Whiting's decision not to deploy the safety car after Sutil's crash, and minimised claims that the race was stopped for intensifying rain.

Rede Globo lead commentator Galvão Bueno, however, was vocal in his criticism of Whiting's decision, describing it as "the biggest mistake I've seen in 40 years in Formula One".

[68] The FIA announced a ten-person review panel, composed of former drivers and team principals, to investigate the cause of the accident and published its findings four weeks later in Doha.

The report made several suggestions to improve safety when recovering disabled vehicles (which were introduced for 2015), and concluded that it would have been impossible to mitigate Bianchi's injuries with changes to cockpit design.

[71] FIA safety commission chairman Peter Wright was quoted in July 2015 as saying that a closed cockpit would not have prevented Bianchi's head injuries, and vice-president Andy Mellow confirmed that attaching impact protection to recovery vehicles was unfeasible.