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The
sixteenth round of this year's Formula 1 World
Championship sees the ten teams make their second visit
in recent times to the Mount Fuji circuit, located in
the mountainous region around Japan's most famous
landmark. Historically, the Japanese Grand Prix has been
a successful hunting ground for Ferrari, as the team has
won almost a third of all F1 world championship races
held in the Land of the Rising Sun, with seven
victories, all at Suzuka, dating back to Gerhard
Berger's victory in 1987.
Last year's race in Fuji got off on the wrong foot for
Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, with both its drivers
relegated to the last two positions, effectively ruining
the team's chances. The race began behind the Safety Car
because of the torrential rain that had in fact blighted
most of the weekend. The FIA declared the race would
start behind the SC, with the obligation for all cars to
be fitted with the "extreme wet weather" tyre; a
decision which had not been made clear to Ferrari and
after the opening lap, the team was told to pit both
cars to change tyres. Despite this setback, Kimi
Raikkonen finished on the podium in third place, with
Felipe Massa also in the points in sixth, which was not
a bad result considering the difficult opening moments.
On the Friday last year, with a dry track, the
Scuderia's car was competitive, especially over a long
run. Given that this year's F2008 has proved to be
competitive at all circuits, these two factors give
cause for optimism about the coming weekend, whatever
the conditions. Latest forecasts predict that, while
there is a strong possibility of rain on Saturday, race
day should be mainly dry.
"As I said in Singapore immediately after the night race
there, our target in Japan and also in the final two
races will be to come away with maximum points," said
Team Principal of the Gestione Sportiva, Stefano
Domenicali. "It is a simple statement but also a very
difficult task! However, we have the potential to
achieve this goal and we believe we can do it. Our
stated objective of winning both titles was rendered
more difficult after the result of the last race where,
apart from the complication of dealing with the first
Safety Car period, we did not help ourselves with the
mistake made during Felipe's pit stop. We still believe
that our "traffic light" system used for releasing the
drivers from the pits does bring a performance
advantage, something we have seen on a couple of
occasions this season when it's use has allowed us to
gain a place in pit lane. It is a good system that still
has potential. However, for the rest of this season, in
the light of recent events, we have decided to revert to
a conventional "lollipop" for telling the driver when it
is clear for him to go. This decision has been taken
purely to give the pit crew maximum confidence at the
time of the pit stops. Pit stops are always a tense
moment and with the fight for the championships so
finely balanced that will be even more the case over
these last few races. Therefore, we do not need to put
our guys under any more strain than necessary. The pit
stop personnel remain unchanged from the line-up used in
Singapore."
The F2008 will feature some new updates in Fuji, which
constitute the latest development parts and also the
final update for this season, as the car will run to the
same specification in China and Brazil. These
developments were given their final track sign-off
during an aero test in Vairano last week, having
previously been evaluated at the last test in Mugello.
Both Kimi and Felipe have stayed out in the Far East
since the last race and on Wednesday they will both be
in Tokyo, taking part, alongside their McLaren-Mercedes
counterparts, in a press conference organised by
Bridgestone.
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