Formula One groups and drivers accomplished a long-haul flight from Australia to Japan for this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix, Round 4 of the 2024 F1 season. F1Technical’s senior author Balázs Szabó delivers stats, facts and trivia forward of the Suzuka race.
Long lap – The 5.807km Suzuka International Racing Course is certainly one of the longest tracks on the present calendar. Drivers have to finish 53 laps throughout the race, masking a complete of 307.471km. The begin and the end line are usually not an identical, there’s an offset of 300m between them.
One of the favorite programs – Tomorrow’s Japanese Grand Prix might be the thirty eighth Formula One race in the Land of the Rising Sun. The race initially ran at the Fuji Speedway in 1976-1977. After a decade off the calendar, it reappeared at Suzuka in 1987 and ran there till 2006. It briefly returned to Fuji for the 2007 and 2008 seasons, after which switched again to Suzuka in 2009, the place it has remained.
The British racer – Lewis Hamilton holds the document for the quickest race lap in Suzuka. The seven-time world champion recorded a 1m30.983s in the 2019 Suzuka race. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the race was not held in the following two years with the sport having returned two years in the past.
Hard tyres – To address the excessive masses imparted by the high-speed modifications of path, Pirelli introduced its compounds of the more durable finish of its 2024 tyre vary. The selection sees drivers use the C1 (Hard), C2 (Medium) and the C3 (Soft) compounds.
Important beginning place – Pole place will not be obligatory key, however crucial for success round the difficult Suzuka circuit. Of the 33 races so far, the race winner has began on pole at Suzuka 17 occasions.
Five outfits – In the historical past of Formula One, 5 totally different Japanese groups participated in the sport. The first one was the Maki outfit which entered eight grands prix, however the small staff based by Kenji Mimura didn’t qualify on every event. The Kojima staff was the subsequent outfit from Japan to enter the sport. Their efforts have been met with better success as they began each of the two races they entered.
As a constructor, Honda joined F1 in 1964 and left it at the finish of 1968. After an extended hiatus, the now Tokyo-based staff rejoined the pinnacle of the motorsport in 2006, however this second spell solely lasted three years. Toyota entered the sport in 2002 and after finishing a complete of 139 races, the Cologne-based staff ended its F1 presence at the finish of 2009 as a consequence of financial causes. The small Super Aguri outfit participated between 2006 and 2008.
Japanese heros– A complete of 21 Japanese drivers managed to get into the pinnacle of motorsport. However, solely 18 of them managed to qualify for races whereas the three others solely entered the race weekend, however failed to start out races. The record of those profitable drivers from the Land of the Rising Sun consists of Hiroshi Fushida, Masahiro Hasemi, Satoru Nakajima, Aguri Suzuki, Toshio Suzuki, Toranosuke Takagi, Takuma Sato, Yuji Ide, Sakon Yamamoto, Kazuki Nakajima, Kamui Kobayashi and Yuki Tsunoda.
Only three – While Japanese powered F1 vehicles have taken greater than 75 wins, drivers from Japan have fared much less properly. Only three have managed to face on the podium. The first of these was Aguri Suzuki who scored his podium end on residence soil in 1990. The second Japanese driver to have snatched a podium end was Takuma Sato who scored a 3rd place throughout the 2004 USA Grand Prix. Completing this record, Kamui Kobayashi managed to face on the podium with the Sauber F1 Team on residence soil in 2012.
Changes – New particles fences have been put in on the right-hand facet of Turns 7, 9, 11 and 15. The tyre barrier on the left at the exit of Turn 12 has been renewed. The strip of synthetic grass on the left between Turns 16 and 17 has been eliminated.
A single one – There might be only one DRS zone at Suzuka, situated on the important straight. The detection level is 50m earlier than Turn 16 and the activation level is 100m earlier than the management line.
The German driver – Michael Schumacher holds the document for most wins in the historical past of the Japanese Grand Prix. The German scored a complete of six victories, one for Benetton and 5 extra for Ferrari. Lewis Hamilton has received 5 time, adopted by Sebastian Vettel, who has taken 4 victories. The different repeat winners are Max Verstappen, Fernando Alonso, Ayrton Senna, Damon Hill, Mika Hakkinen and Gerhard Berger.
The power from Woking – Among the groups, McLaren is the reigning power in Japan. The Woking-based outfit has scored victories 9 occasions. Ferrari is the second most profitable staff with seven triumphs adopted by Mercedes with 5 wins.
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