Suzuka International Racing Course. 53 laps around the 5.807 km track. 307.471 km covered by the drivers who make it to the chequered flag. The Japanese track is not one great historic circuit like Monaco or Monza. Suzuka made its first appearance in the F1 calendar in 1987 and became instantly iconic with its high-speed twists, technical corners, and figure-of-eight shape.
The track was built in 1962 under the direction of Soichiro Honda who sought to turn his company, Honda, into an automotive powerhouse. After deciding Honda needed its own test track, Dutchman John Hugenholtz, designed the now iconic ‘crossover’ track. His original design had the track crossing each other 3 separate times however this was later revised to just 1.
Suzuka is an unpredictable circuit for a number of reasons, rain can fall heavy, fast, and unexpectedly adding a fresh challenge to an already taxing track. Although many of the drivers are fans of the track it has been home to a number of high-speed dangerous accidents. The track has a safety cat probability of 50% with a virtual safety car probability of 33% which has been based on the last 6 races in Japan.
Lewis Hamilton is the driver who currently holds the lap record after he set a 1m 30.983s lap in his Mercedes in 2019. It is Michael Schumacher who hold the record for most pole positions at the circuit with 8 as well as most wins at the circuit with 6. Max Verstappen took the win at the 2022 Japanese Grand Prix, earning him his second Drivers World Championship. After the struggles of Singapore for Verstappen last week, Suzuka will not play host to a championship winner this year.
Suzuka is such a special race in the calendar is because of the amazing fans that attend and the atmosphere that is created. Many fans participate in Formula 1 dress up, singing, and riding the Ferris wheel! There is a selection of incredible food and a number of great places to sit. Suzuka is defiantly a race every F1 fan should aim to visit!
Which race would you most like to attend? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!
Written by Cesca
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