Track: Suzuka Circuit
Number of Laps: 53
Circuit Length: 3.6 miles (5.8km)
Race Length: 191.1 miles (307.6km)
Start Time: 06:00 BST
Fastest Lap: 1:30.532 (Pedro de la Rosa, West McLaren Mercedes, 2005, FP1)
Fastest Race Lap: 1:31.540 (Kimi Raikkonen, West McLaren Mercedes, 2005)
2015 Pole Position: Nico Rosberg, Mercedes AMG Petronas, 1:32.584, Medium Tyres
2015 Race Winner: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG Petronas
Tyre Compounds: Soft, Medium, Hard, Intermediate, Wet
First F1 Championship Grand Prix (Country/Track): 1976/1987
Most Wins (Country/Track): Michael Schumacher (6), McLaren (9)/McLaren & Ferrari (7)
Well, who was expecting that? What looked like a clear victory for Lewis Hamilton in Malaysia turned into a Red Bull one-two after the reigning world champion’s engine blew up with just a handful of laps to go.
The failure cost Hamilton the chance to retake the lead in the title race, whilst it also meant that Mercedes failed to wrap up the constructors’ championship.
Traditionally, Suzuka has played a monumental part in the drivers’ championship battles. This year will be no different, as it marks the first of the final five races of the 2016 season. If Hamilton is to retain his title, he really needs to win this one – Nico Rosberg extended his championship lead to 23 points following Hamilton’s DNF last time out.
It might not be easy for Mercedes though. Suzuka is a very high downforce circuit, meaning that Red Bull will be on the hunt for their third win of the season. Ricciardo and Verstappen have now won one a piece in 2016, can either of them get their second wins of the year?
Sebastian Vettel comes into the race knowing that he has a three-place grid penalty. The German was handed the sanction post-race in Malaysia for his actions into the first corner – where he dived up the inside of Nico Rosberg and tagged him. The Mercedes driver spun and dropped to last, whilst Vettel broke his front suspension and retired from the race.
Ferrari look set to take an aggressive strategy in Japan. They have brought nine sets of the soft tyre for each driver – more than any other team. This leaves Vettel with just one set of the medium compound.
Red Bull have gone the other way, bringing just six sets of soft tyres – the same as Manor. They have favoured bringing four hard sets, as have Force India, Magnussen and Kvyat. To make the script even more exciting, Mercedes have gone for a middle of the road approach – with Hamilton having an extra set of hard tyres compared to Rosberg.
The race in Malaysia was an absolute thriller, can we have two great Asian races within a week? Keep checking Read Motorsport for all of the latest news from the weekend.
