2013 FORMULA ONE JAPANESE GRAND PRIX - SUZUKA
Continuing the travel through Asia, the F1 circus arrives at the Land of the Rising Sun, the great Japan! Hosting the pinnacle of motorsports since 1976 (with a hiatus of ten years after the 1977 race), the Asian country had two circuits being used by the series, Fuji and Suzuka, with the second, being the circuit with the most races and with the most rich history, holding 11 season deciders, including all Ayrton Senna’s titles (1988, 90, 91) and the first championship of Michael Schumacher with Ferrari (2000), may be the place where Sebastian Vettel will write another incredible page in the sports history. Vettel can guarantee his 4th title in a row, something achieved by only two other drivers, Juan Manuel Fangio and Michael Schumacher, but Vettel can set his mark with only 26 years.
Suzuka is a circuit that kept the challenge of the old times, with the safety and the structure of the modern F1, sharing with Spa Francorchamps, the 1st place in the heart of the drivers. With corners of many different styles, Suzuka demands a lot from drivers and cars. The circuit has from long straights and high speed corners, to slow chicanes and a tight hairpin. Among the current F1 drivers, Vettel holds the record for the most victories in the japanese circuit, being the winner in 3 of the past 4 races (2009, 2010 and 2012), also securing the title with a 3rd place in 2011. The biggest winner in Suzuka is another german, the 7 times World Champion, Michael Schumacher, with six wins (one with Benetton and 5 with Ferrari).
The challenge in Suzuka extends for more than the track, the weather also made important appearances all over the years, turning a track that’s already a big challenge, to one of the most amazing experiences a F1 driver can have. Qualifying or race, the rain can mix up things in ways nobody can imagine. In 1993, Ayrton Senna got used from the mixed conditions, to take away the win from the all mighty Williams from Alain Prost, with a young hearted Rubens Barrichello, scoring his first points in F1.
One year later, in 1994, the F1 circus watched the best ever race from Damon Hill in F1, beating the rain specialist Michael Schumacher in the conditions the german always made the difference. That result led to the famous championship decider in Adelaide, where Schumacher and Hill collided in one of the most controversial decidions in F1 history.
The rain was also responsible for chaos at the japanese track. In 2004, a typhoon hit the circuit area, cancelling all the activities in the Saturday, which left the qualifying session for the Sunday morning. Six years later, in 2010, another heavy rain caused again a qualifying session to be cancelled and postponed to the Sunday morning. Drivers and teams are always alert, the weather in Japan can be difficult and they have to be prepared.
The 2013 comes to Suzuka, trying to recover its best races. The change to the Pirelli tyres in the mid-season, turned the races into a very predictable spectacle for some, for others there are still interesting points to observe. The power balance of the teams changed, with Force India decreasing a lot and Sauber improving very well in the last races. Ferrari got even far away from the first places, while Lotus and Mercedes fight nose by nose to be the main opponent of Red Bull.
Sebastian Vettel won the last 4 races, also scoring 3 of the last pole positions and fastest laps. That amazing performance led the german driver to a 77 points advantage over the 2nd placed driver, Fernando Alonso, which opens the possibility for the championship to be decided in Suzuka. In order to end the championship fight in Japan, Vettel has to win and Alonso can’t score more than a 9th place. A very difficult and unlikely scenario, but Suzuka has shown in the past that unlikely results may happen and Vettel can indeed dream with this possibility.
Coming to the news for the weekend, the young japanese driver, Kimiya Sato, will take the charge of the Sauber’s 3rd driver role in Japan. Sato drove a Sauber car in the last young drivers test in Silverstone and finished the AutoGP 2013 season in the 2nd place.
The two Frenchmen from the two weakest teams will have another headache for the weekend besides their slow cars, Charles Pic and Jules Bianchi both got a 3rd reprimand in Korea and will lose 10 places in the grid, very likely forming the last row of the grid at Suzuka.
FIA Press Conference Schedules:
Thursday (15:00)
Jenson Button (McLaren)
Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber)
Pastor Maldonado (Williams)
Charles Pic (Caterham)
Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso)
Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull)
Friday (16:00)
Pat Fry (Ferrari)
Dave Greenwood (Marussia)
James Key (Toro Rosso)
Tom McCullough (Sauber)
Paul Monaghan (Red Bull)
Jonathan Neale (McLaren)
Weekend Schedule:
Friday:
Practice 1 – 10:00 to 11:30
Practice 2 – 14:00 to 15:30
Saturday:
Practice 3 – 11:00 to 12:00
Qualifying – 14:00
Sunday:
Race – 15:00
Pirelli Tyre Choice:
Prime Tyres: Hard
Option Tyres: Medium
2012 Pole Position Lap: Sebastian VETTEL (RED BULL) - 1:30.839
Driver’s Championship Standings
01 – Sebastian VETTEL – 272
02 – Fernando ALONSO – 195
03 – Kimi RAIKKONEN – 167
04 – Lewis HAMILTON – 161
05 – Mark WEBBER – 130
06 – Nico ROSBERG – 122
07 – Felipe MASSA – 89
08 – Romain GROSJEAN – 72
09 – Jenson BUTTON – 58
10 – Paul DI RESTA – 36
11 – Nico HULKENBERG – 31
12 – Adrian SUTIL – 26
13 – Sergio PEREZ – 23
14 – Daniel RICCIARDO – 18
15 – Jean-Eric VERGNE – 13
16 – Pastor MALDONADO – 01
Constructors Championship Standings
01 – RED BULL – 402
02 – FERRARI – 284
03 – MERCEDES – 283
04 – LOTUS – 239
05 – MCLAREN – 81
06 – FORCE INDIA – 62
07 – SAUBER – 31
08 – TORO ROSSO – 31
09 – WILLIAMS – 01
