Japanese Grand Prix: stage preview

What a great race it was in Singapore. No, the results were quite predictable based on the results of the qualifying, but how strange it is that the balance of power in Singapore sometimes changes.

Everyone remembers how unexpectedly the dominant Mercedes team suddenly lost in Singapore, when the fastest cars of the season suddenly lacked speed and grip, how they helplessly commented on the results of the weekend. Now it has happened with Red Bull.

Hardly anyone could have imagined that in this incredible season, after fifteen victories in a row, both drivers of the champion team would suddenly drop out of contention in the second part of qualifying (for the first time since Russia’18), and in the race the don’t make it to the podium. This great Grand Prix reveals its new sides every year.

The crowd was delighted by Ferrari’s victory after Red Bull’s endless successes – and by Carlos Sainz’s unexpectedly perfect performance. The Italian press applauded and the victory flag was raised in Maranello. But this week in Suzuka the balance of power will change again – the track is perfect for the Red Bull cars, but we’ll see what happens in the end.

As with the Singapore Grand Prix, the coronavirus pandemic had a negative impact on the Japanese podium. While European circuits sought and found solutions, the Japanese refused to hold stages.

The race was canceled in 2020; in 2021, when Max Verstappen was on his way to the title in a Honda-engined car, the Japanese manufacturer did everything he could to get on the podium and achieve a home victory before the already announced departure from Formula 1, but during During the Olympic Games, disease statistics rose and the Japanese once again announced the cancellation of the stage.

Everything worked out well for Red Bull and Honda last year – Verstappen won the rain race, won his second championship title and the Honda logo was on his car, albeit smaller.

This time Verstappen will not be able to win the title early in Suzuka. If he wins the race and sets the fastest lap, and Perez scores no points, then there are 177 points between them, 180 of which are up for grabs for the rest of the season.

Just as the Imola circuit is forever associated with the death of Ayrton Senna, just as flowers are brought to the scene of Antoine Hubert’s fatal accident in Spa, the Suzuka race is associated with the death of Jules Bianchi in 2014.

Now the Frenchman could be Charles Leclerc’s partner at Ferrari and, without prejudice to the merits of Carlos Sainz, this would be a nice driver pairing. A kind of ‘Formula 1 musketeers’.
A few months before that tragedy, two weeks before his 25th birthday, Jules said in an interview with F1News.ru: “I am here in Formula 1 and I want to build a successful career. I want to prove my worth and I hope to spend many more years in the championship. But no one can predict the future…”

Jules found eternal rest in the cemetery of Nice and a street appeared in his honor in the city. He was just a racer.

Since then, Formula 1 has introduced a virtual safety car that allows you to control speed when yellow flags appear on track. At turn seven, Suzuki installed a stationary crane to evacuate cars instead of a mobile crane, which Bianchi’s car then crashed into. The FIA ​​​​has introduced a rule according to which the start of the Grand Prix must take place at least four hours before sunset or twilight, so that visibility during the race is at a good level. Since 2015, the start time of the Suzuka race has been moved forward one hour and is scheduled for 2 p.m. local time.

Rain is possible again during the Japanese Grand Prix. And if at other circuits the race management is often criticized for indecisiveness during heavy rain, then in Suzuka it is better for everyone to sit in the pits until the sun rises. In memory of Jules.