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The
fifteenth round of the world
championship sees Formula 1
make a welcome return to the Suzuka
circuit after a two
year hiatus spent in the
shadow of Mount Fuji. This
year’s race will be the
twenty fifth running of the
Japanese Grand Prix and Suzuka has been its home for
all but four races. Owned by
Honda, who built it as a
test track in 1962, it is
now considered to be one of
the all time classic
circuits, up there with Spa
in the F1 drivers’
affections. It is also the
only circuit on the calendar
to feature a figure of eight
layout. There are eighteen
turns, beginning with a very
fast downhill run past the
pits to a quick right,
followed by the famous
“Esses” before the Spoon
Curve and the legendary
130R, one of the most
daunting corners on the F1
calendar. Despite its fast
and flowing nature,
overtaking is not that
straightforward here, with
the best opportunities
coming at the final chicane,
although if conditions are
right, a move is possible at
the first corner and at the
hairpin.
While all
the familiar landmarks, such
as the giant wheel in the
Suzuka Circuitland Amusement
Park will be there, along
with the politest fans in
the world, sitting late into
the night in the main
grandstand across from the
pits, there will be many new
features this year, with a
rebuilt paddock, replacing
the rather antiquated
facilities of the past.
Several sections of the
track have been resurfaced.
As this work was carried out
two years ago, there should
be none of the problems
usually associated with a
brand new surface.
Ferrari won
the first ever Japanese
Grand Prix to be run at this
track, back in 1987,
courtesy of Gerhard Berger,
but the Scuderia then had to
wait a decade until Michael
Schumacher stood on the top
step of the podium in 1997.
The German went on to win it
a further four times at the
wheel of a Prancing Horse
and thanks to a further
victory for Rubens
Barrichello, Ferrari had an
unprecedented run of five
wins between 2000 and 2004.
As for our current drivers,
Kimi won with McLaren in
2005, visiting the Suzuka
podium on three other
occasions. Giancarlo has
also finished in the top
three here, coming second in
2005 (standing alongside
Kimi) and third in 2006.
However, the
past is soon forgotten in
Formula 1 and this year, the
Scuderia will struggle to
get a driver onto the
podium. As the drivers and
team principal said after
last Sunday’s race in
Singapore, with every
passing race in this final
stage of the season, the
F60, with a specification
that has remained unchanged
for several races now, is no
match for cars that other
teams are continuing to
develop race by race. The
Prancing Horse races to win
world championships and,
when it became clear that
this would not be an option
for 2009, all efforts were
switched to ensuring that
the 2010 car will be truly
competitive at the highest
level. Looking at the
positive side of the F60
package, it tends to perform
much better with a race
level of fuel on board than
it does on the low fuel
required to do well in the
first two parts of
qualifying on Saturday
afternoon. While the grid
will be very close in terms
of lap times at Suzuka, at
least unlike the twisty
Singapore track, overtaking
is possible here and so Kimi
and Giancarlo should at
least be able to count on
the advantage of KERS to
make up places at the start,
possibly boost their
overtaking opportunities
during the race and
definitely help them defend
position from other drivers’
attacking moves. The
deficiencies in the car
package certainly do not
translate into any
deficiency in the Scuderia’s
approach to the final three
races of the season and
everyone will be doing their
utmost to give the drivers
the best possible chance of
scoring points. The battle
for third place is one of
the closest in the series
and the final step on the
“championship podium” is
definitely worth fighting
for.
Even if the
technical odds are stacked against them, both Ferrari
drivers can be relied on to
be a force to be reckoned
with at Suzuka. The Japanese
track is usually mentioned
in the same breath as
Spa-Francorchamps, as being
a true test of driver
ability. Only a few weeks
ago, Kimi defied the odds to
win the Belgian Grand Prix
and if he did not have an
easy time of it, that was
down to the fact he was
pushed hard all the way to
the flag by Giancarlo
Fisichella, who finished
second for his previous
team, before joining the
Scuderia. “Suzuka is a very
demanding track, from a
technical point of view,
especially in terms of
aerodynamics,” reckons the
Finn. “You need a lot of
downforce and honestly, we
do not have enough to fight
for the top places. All the
same, we will do everything
we can to get the most out
of the potential at our
disposal.” Giancarlo is also
hoping that the driver’s
ability could make up for
deficiencies in the F60
package. “I have not lost
heart and I am looking
forward to putting on a good
show in front of the
enthusiastic crowd,
including members of my
Japanese fan club,”
commented the Italian. “I’ve
only been with Ferrari for a
few weeks, but I’ve found
out that this team is made
up of people who never give
up and I am sure that,
thanks to everyone’s hard
work, we will once again be
able to secure some good
results in these final three
races, starting in Suzuka.”
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