Japanese Grand Prix Race Thread

Well guys, bit late with this one as the season is over. RedBull made a mistake giving Webber, Seb's car and he's on pole. How do you think they will end his race tomorrow? Multi21/Multi12, KERS again, Engine Failure, Gear Failure, Brake Failure, Drive shaft failure, Fuel problem, Wheel Nut not fixed properly? Your guess is as good as mine. So let's begin;

A few facts (Source: http://www.formula1.com/news/features/2013/10/15073.html)

The Japanese Grand Prix has been run 28 times previously - 24 times at Suzuka (1987-2006, 2009-) and four times at Fuji (1976-77, 2007-08). The only other Japanese track to host a Grand Prix is the TI Aida circuit, which staged the Pacific Grand Prix in 1994 and 1995.

The inaugural Japanese Grand Prix in 1976 was held at Fuji and won by Lotus’s Mario Andretti. James Hunt dramatically clinched the ‘76 drivers’ title by finishing third.

Suzuka features a crossover and is the only figure-of-eight circuit on the calendar, meaning that it features both clockwise and anti-clockwise elements. It was designed by Dutchman John Hugenholz in 1962 and hosted its first Grand Prix in 1987.

Michael Schumacher is statistically the most dominant driver in Japanese Grand Prix history, with six wins, three other podium finishes, eight pole positions and four fastest laps.

Schumacher’s eight pole positions in Japan ties him with Ayrton Senna for the most pole positions at any one circuit (Senna scored eight poles at San Marino).

Five drivers on the current grid have won the Japanese Grand Prix - Sebastian Vettel (three times), Fernando Alonso (twice), Kimi Raikkonen, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button (all once).

In 2012 in Japan, Vettel scored the second Grand Chelem (pole, fastest lap, race win, led every lap) of his career. Ominously, he scored his third and fourth Grands Chelem at the last two races in Singapore and Korea. Can he make it three in a row in Japan?

McLaren have more wins (nine) and more podiums (25) in Japan than any other team.

The lap record at Suzuka stands at 1m 31.540s, set by Kimi Raikkonen in 2005 driving a McLaren.

Jenson Button has appeared in the Japanese Grand Prix more times than any other driver on the grid - this year will be his 12th start.

The furthest back on the grid any Japanese Grand Prix winner has started is 17th. That was McLaren’s Kimi Raikkonen in 2005, when he thrillingly took the lead on the final lap.

The drivers’ world championship has been decided in Japan more times than in any other country - 12 times. However, Vettel is the only current driver to have secured a title in Japan (in 2011). The other three champions on the 2013 grid won theirs in Brazil. To secure the title in Japan this year, Vettel needs to win the race with Alonso finishing no higher than ninth.

The pole sitter has been victorious in 14 of the 28 Japanese Grands Prix to date. At Suzuka the polesitter has won 50 percent of the time - 12 times in 24 races.

According to Mercedes, the drivers are on full throttle for 70 percent of the lap distance. The longest time at full throttle is 16 seconds. Drivers make an average of 48 gear changes per lap, which equates to 2,544 gear changes over the 53-lap race.

17 Japanese drivers have started a world championship Grand Prix. Three of them have reached the podium once. Of those three, Takuma Sato is the only man to do so outside his homeland (in the USA in 2004). Aguri Suzuki (who scored Japan’s first podium) did so at Suzuka in 1990, while Kamui Kobayashi finished third in Japan last year.


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