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The Suzuka International Racing Circuit in Japan is one of the most iconic.
Soichiro Honda (yes, that Honda) was the creation of Japan’s first large-scale road racing circuit, and John Hugenholtz designed its iconic design. In the original design, the circuit was crossed 3 times, however, the existing design only has an intersection of 2 sectors. and 3.
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The circuit is a favourite among F1 drivers, as they can tackle almost any type of corner on the original track eight by eight. It still retains the “old school” charm, as Suzuka presents demanding situations for some of the world’s most productive drivers, over 3. decades after his first F1 Grand Prix. “Suzuka is definitely one of the greatest of all time,” said George Russell. “It’s very exciting. The waves and flow of this circuit give you wonderful speed when you run. So it’s a pleasure to come here.
Here’s what you want to know about the track that has many world championships.
?? #JapaneseGP @TeamORLEN #Orlen pic. twitter. com/EJBFAshaIK
– AlphaTauri Team (@AlphaTauriF1) September 22, 2023
In 1959, Soichiro Honda said: “I need to have a position for motorsport. The cars will take a step forward if they are not put to the test on the race track.
The company made its debut at the Tourist Trophy (TT) motorcycle race on the Isle of Man the same year and needed a control track for its production models. The solution to build your own circuit. Honda contacted Hugenholtz to help him conceive and, according to racingcircuits. info, Hugenholtz’s son says the story turned out like this.
“My father went there and had several workers to help him and they gave him the plans for a giant structure site. There was also a three-dimensional style of the site. As there were several hills and roads between the rice fields, he devised a plan that would leave the least amount of land to move around, adding the crossing, which was and is very uncommon in a circuit. However, my father’s opinion was that a race track deserved to have a mix of other corners and challenges, so a junction was really possible.
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The company’s team analyzed knowledge from leading circuits in Europe to create the model. He decided that the terrain deserved to have a domain of approximately 660,000 to 990,000 square meters for a six-kilometer track (the distance of one lap). He stressed and, although the municipal government supported the project, land acquisition was difficult. Suzuka City Hall held meetings over several nights in which Honda representatives and the city’s deputy mayor spoke with residents. In the end, everyone agreed.
According to Honda, “The original plan envisaged the structure of a field in the middle of a domain of rice fields. However, after Mr. Honda ordered that the valuable fields not be destroyed, a relatively wild part of the nearby mountainous lands can be used instead.
Today, Honda’s links with Formula 1 become bigger beyond Suzuka. It has worked with many groups over the years (including Red Bull) and will be Aston Martin’s factory partner in 2026.
GO FURTHER
Why Honda could power Aston Martin’s next big step up the F1 ladder
The history of Formula 1 in Japan dates back to the 1970s, when it was raced at Fuji Speedway, the track on which he won the 1976 world championship (Mario Andretti won the race, but James Hunt won the title, beating Niki Lauda by one point). ). However, the runway was damaged and it rained unpredictably.
In 1977, Ronnie Peterson and Gilles Villeneuve collided, sending the last driver’s Ferrari into a group of spectators and killing two other people in a limited area. F1 left the country for a decade before returning, this time to Suzuka.
Changes were made to the circuit in the 1980s to include Suzuka in the F1 calendar. A chicane was climbed before the last corner in 1983. There were considerations in this segment between higher speeds and the lack of starting zone. Other protective measures have been taken around the circuit, such as the progression of safe segments to create more runoff areas. And it worked; Suzuka hosted its first Grand Prix in 1987.
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Toyota Motor Corporation bought Fuji Speedway in 2000 and announced it would remodel the track to meet sporting standards. Legendary track designer Hermann Tilke evolved the proposal and Fuji Speedway reopened in 2005. F1 competed there in 2007 and 2008, but weather disruptions persisted. Ticket sales did not meet expectations for various reasons and Formula 1’s control that Suzuka and Fuji would be alternate venues for the Japanese Grand Prix.
Until the global recession forced Toyota to withdraw from F1 and Honda negotiated a deal to keep Suzuka on the F1 calendar. The other two seasons in which the sport did compete at Suzuka took place in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Suzuka has witnessed many battles over the years. With its end-of-season slot, this track has more than one championship.
McLaren teammates (and notorious rivals), Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost, fought a hard-fought world title war, and Suzuka scored the penultimate race of the 1989 calendar. That said, Senna needed to win the final two races to clinch the title. He would possibly have taken pole, but Prost made a better start, leading until lap 46.
Senna confronted his teammate and tried to overtake him, colliding with Prost. Prost was eliminated and Senna won the race, subsequently disqualified.
Especially in this epic between Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna in 1989! ?#F1 #HistoryAwaits pic. twitter. com/AeSj4DvxFQ
– Formula 1 (@F1) 2 December 2021
Once again, the world championship took place in Suzuka.
Sixteen things separated Mansell and Senna ahead of the Japanese GP, and the former driver needed a win for his hopes. Mansell lined up P3 while Senna was second, and Senna only needed to protect the Williams driver. After only 10 laps of racing, Mansell made a mistake and went off the track. This was Senna’s last World Championship before his death in 1994.
Do you already feel a trend here? Michael Schumacher and Mika Häkkinen competed for the 2000 World Championship and racing continued at Suzuka.
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The rain complicated matters, as Schumacher and Häkkinen achieved “almost the same times, like a perpetual qualifying lap” for more than 40 laps, the Ferrari driver told Autosport about the race. Häkkinen led the first pit stop, but managed a second stop. a little earlier, letting Schumacher accelerate on the track. Ferrari’s pit stop was, after all, fast enough for Schumacher not to lose the lead, and this victory made Schumacher the first Ferrari driver to win a title in 21 years.
At the 2005 Japanese Grand Prix, Räikkönen fought from the end of the group to first place.
Suzuka is not known for its overtaking opportunities. Still, a combined grid after rainy qualifying led to plenty of overtaking with the same old favourites much further down the grid. Chaos ensued as the pilots nearly collided. In the closing laps, Räikkönen had other plans. He passed Fisichella on the final lap, took the lead and finished 1. 6 seconds ahead.
One of our greatest wins of all time in Japan when the Iceman started from 17th ➡️ P1! ?? #GP of Japan ??pic. twitter. com/aOTtAQzsJE
– McLaren (@McLarenF1) September 21, 2023
Almost nine years ago, Jules Bianchi was involved in a fatal twist of fate at the Japanese Grand Prix, dying several months after colliding with a recovery tractor at Suzuka. His death accelerated protective adaptations in sport, such as the arrival of the halo.
Pierre Gasly almost lost the recovery crane at last year’s Japanese Grand Prix. He told Sky Sports F1 at the time: “We have already lost Jules. We all lost an ordinary guy, an ordinary driver, for reasons we know. Eight years ago, on the same track, in the same conditions, with a crane. How can we see a crane today, not just on gravel, on a race track, when we are still on the track?I don’t perceive it.
“Obviously, I drove myself. Obviously, if I had lost the car the same way Carlos lost it on the last lap – no matter the speed, two hundred km/h, a hundred – I would have died, as undeniable as that. I don’t get it. It’s disrespectful to Jules, disrespectful to his family.
On Thursday there will be plenty of activity at the Suzuka International Racing Circuit, especially at Turn 2.
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Sebastian Vettel will be present at the Japanese Grand Prix this weekend and has created the “Buzzin’ Corner”. The borders are painted black and yellow and several wooden huts (called “bee hotels”) have been installed on the land to promote biodiversity. Grid, adding some staff to the team, joined Vettel on Thursday and decorated the huts (one for the team) with black and yellow paint.
– Formula 1 (@F1) September 21, 2023
“It’s wonderful to see that he discovered his target,” Lewis Hamilton said when asked via The Athletic about Vettel’s impact. “To be honest, in the history of sport, I don’t know of any other driving force that has been so outspoken and has shown genuine compassion for the outside world of this small world we live in.
There’s something more to driving a Formula 1 car around Suzuka and other circuits. Alex Albon said it best.
“That’s pretty much what Yuki said: it’s the feeling that you can take the corners and feel what it’s like to drive a Formula 1 car, which sounds silly, but on a track like Singapore you don’t feel that way. “While here only speed, and because it is so narrow, so narrow, there is grass on both sides, immersion in speed, the feeling of speed is a little higher than what you get, for example. , at Paul Ricard so it’s very special.
As Lando Norris said: “I think when you drive through Singapore it’s amazing to drive it in a Formula 1 car and probably faster than any other car you can go through Singapore with, but you don’t feel the same speed as you. “: You don’t get the same feeling of what an F1 car is really capable of, because where it plays more than anything else is the high-speed corners.
The track hasn’t been drastically replaced over the years, which Norris says “is one of the most productive things. “There’s still grass around and “you have that little bit of threat, that detail of threat, that I think is still real. It feels very natural and actually adds, say, to a qualifying round, the threat point you need to take.
Suzuka may not have the boundaries of a city like Monaco or Singapore, but there’s very little margin for error. To achieve a smart lap, Haas’ Nico Hülkenberg said drivers want to “connect all sectors, have an intelligent balance of the car” and be fast. The steering is adjusted frequently, creating a fast and fluid pace. The Haas driver added: “At the end of the day, the important thing is the grip you have and the intelligent balance.
(Main image: Clive Rose/Getty Images))
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Madeline Coleman works at The Athletic and covers Formula 1. Prior to joining The Athletic, she was an editor on Sports Illustrated’s news and trends team. He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Follow Madeline on Twitter@ mwc13_3