2019 Japanese Grand Prix – Preview

Looking ahead to Round 17 of the 2019 Formula One season at the Suzuka Circuit in Japan

• Toto Talks Japan
• Japanese Grand Prix: Fact File
• Stat Attack: Japan and Beyond

Toto Talks Japan

Claiming a 1-2 in Sochi after three races without a win was a great feeling. We delivered a strong race in Russia, made the most of our opportunities and both Lewis and Valtteri drove flawlessly. We brought home 44 points, built the gap in both championships and are highly motivated to keep our foot on the throttle for the remaining five races.

However, the win in Sochi doesn’t change the fact that Ferrari had a stronger start to the second part of the season than we did. We’ll bring some minor upgrades to the car in Japan which will hopefully help us take a step in the right direction; however, we know that we need to extract absolutely everything from our car and the tyres if we want to be able to challenge for a win.

The next race takes us to the iconic Suzuka Circuit with its exhilarating corner sequences and highly enthusiastic fans. We have a strong track record there, having won every Japanese Grand Prix in the hybrid era, but we expect this year to be challenging given the strength of our opponents. It will be a very close battle on track – and one that we very much look forward to. Our targets for the final quarter of the season is clear and it’s up to us to make sure we achieve them.

Japanese Grand Prix: Fact File

• The Suzuka Circuit is the only figure-of-eight configuration on the F1 calendar, with the section after the Degner Curves passing under the straight leading to 130R. Because of the crossover, it’s the only Formula One track that runs both clockwise and anticlockwise.
• The figure-of-eight layout is good for tyre wear, because it means there is a very even balance between left and right-hand turns. Of the 18 corners in total, ten are right-hand and eight are left-hand turns.
• Drivers go into the first corner without touching the brakes. In Qualifying, they don’t start braking until the car is cornering at close to 5G, generating some of the highest steering wheel torques of the season.
• From Turn 1 until the end of the Esses sequence, the car is in constant cornering for almost 2km with six direction changes.
• The majority of the 5.807km lap of Suzuka is spent with some lateral g-force going through the car. Only around 1.2km of the lap are spent driving in a straight line.
• Suzuka has a wide variety of corner types. The flat-out 130R is one of F1’s quickest corners, taken at 315 km/h, while the Turn 11 hairpin is one of the slowest at 75 km/h.
• The lack of straights at the Suzuka Circuit mean it is one of only two tracks, alongside Monaco, to feature just one DRS zone.
• Suzuka has the only downhill grid on the calendar.
• Braking for Turn 11 is particularly challenging, because drivers are mid-way through the fast right-hander of Turn 10 when they begin applying the brakes. They are still cornering at 3.5G when they hit the brakes, starting the braking zone while turning right before then turning left for the hairpin. This is why lock-ups are so common at this corner.
• Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport has won every Japanese Grand Prix since the beginning of the hybrid era in 2014.

Stat Attack: Japan and Beyond