The Suzuka Circuit has held some of the greatest Formula One races and championship deciders over the years.
From Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost coming together in 1989 and 1990, deciding both respective championships, to the 1994 sodden event where it was uniquely split into an aggregate race after a red flag period meant a fight against the clock and not other cars decided the outcome of the race.
However in 1996, after 15 gruelling races prior to the final round at Suzuka, Damon Hill would go head to head with his rookie teammate Jacques Villeneuve for the world championship crown.
Heading into the race the Briton only needed one point to secure the crown. With a dominant Williams-Renault in his hands that should have been an easy task, but after only qualifying second behind Villeneuve, it would all come down to the start.
As the lights went out it was Villeneuve who got the poorer getaway of the two Williams drivers falling behind his teammate and dropped to seventh, though he would dispatch Jean Alesi when the Frenchman crashed his Benetton at Turn 2.
Hill attempted to make his escape up the road ahead of chasing pack but came under pressure from Gerhard Berger on lap three. As the Austrian tried to dive up the inside at the final chicane, Hill was already turning in, therefore, Berger broke his front wing against the rear of the FW18.
With Berger out the picture, Hill would make a gap to Mika Hakkinen and Michael Schumacher, who were having their own battle further back ahead of the first pit stops. Behind them, Villeneuve continued to chase down the Ferrari of Irvine but the race turned on its head on lap 37.
Villeneuve would be forced out of the race at Turn 1 after the right rear wheel came off of his Williams. It bounced over the tyre barrier and surprisingly the catch fencing landing in the spectator area, luckily no one was hurt in the accident.
The Canadian’s retirement meant his teammate as the 1996 champion regardless of what ever the outcome of the race would be.
Just two laps later, Berger attempted to pass Irvine at the same corner he tried on Hill, however, this also resulted in a contact as he hit the Irishman, spinning him round. The Ferrari stalled, and Irvine was left stranded in the middle of the chicane.
For the final laps of the race, Hill made no mistakes, driving as smoothly as he ever had done in his career to take his 21st victory but it was Murray Walker’s famous words that will forever be in F1 folklore describing Hill’s final lap of the race.
“This is something that many people didn’t think could possibly happen today, they thought Damon would drive a cautious race, but he fought.
“He fought from second on the grid, he passed Jacques Villeneuve, he took the lead, he stayed there, and Damon Hill exits the chicane and wins the Japanese Grand Prix… and now I’ve got to stop because I’ve got a lump in my throat.”
In a scene of great sportsmanship, long-standing rival Michael Schumacher pulled his Ferrari alongside the Williams and congratulated Hill on his title success.
I chose this race to look back on because it is almost 20 years to the day in which this event took place, but it also holds a sentimental place in my heart. I was six years old when this race happened and my dad had promised me he would get me up the morning of the morning of the race to see how the title would be decided.
I remember it all perfectly to this day and ever since I heard ‘The Chain’ for BBC’s intro to their Grand Prix programme, right through to Murray Walker’s special words as he crossed the line catching a lump in his throat, it showed me that Formula One is a very special sport and would leave me with a burning passion for it to this very day.
