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JAPANESE GP PREVIEW IMAGE © GETTY IMAGES
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Welcome to the Japanese Grand Prix preview, In this issue we have loads of great content on the Japanese GP which takes place this weekend at Suzuka. We have team by team analysis and a review of the Singapore Grand Prix. We have a driver profile on Jarno Trulli and new feature called 4 Thoughts which takes 4 writers view on one subject. The Singapore GP Preview nearly tripled our readership and we hope to keep on growing with each preview. If you have any views on this mag then be sure to let us know via twitter.com/finalsector or via our facebook.com/finalsector we love hearing from you, Hope you enjoy Matt Bacon
THE EDITORIAL TEAM
THE EDITOR & DESIGNER WRITER / PROMO MATTHEW BACON
GUEST WRITER
DANIEL J MORSE
LEAD WRITER
SALES / WRITER GUEST WRITER
ROBYN BLAKE
EWAN MARSHALL
BETHANY ANDREWS
GUEST WRITER
GUEST WRITER
GUEST WRITER
GUEST WRITER
GUEST WRITER
GREGORY HAINES
CHRISTINA EADES
JACK LESLIE
KRIT DWIVEDI
FINALSECTORMAG.COM
GARY MARSHALL
HOLLY CRAIG
CONGRATULATIONS PETER WINDSOR We would like to congratulate you and your wife on the birth of your son Jack Luis. We would also like to take the chance to say thanks for all the feedback given. This will help us develop and improve for the future. If you don’t already watch “The Flying Lap” each Wednesday 7PM GMT then go to smibs.tv/the-flying-lap or where you can also catch up on previous shows. Hope you and the family are well, FinalSector Team
SINGAPORE GP REVIEW Words : Daniel J Morse
IMAGE © GETTY IMAGES
IMAGE © GETTY IMAGES
W
ith just six races left of the season, Singapore – the only night race on the calendar – was anticipated to be one of the most glamorous events of the year. Practice one was an interesting session – with the previous support races having broken the temporary curbs, Charlie Whiting took to the track on foot to investigate and suspended the session for half an hour while they were fixed. When the session did get underway, the times began to tumble as the track rubbered in. Mark Webber, while on a hot lap, found himself stuck behind the slower Timo Glock, and on the final corner the two came together – breaking Webber’s front wing, and causing him to abandon his quick lap. Later, Heikki Kovalainen’s Lotus stopped on track with a gearbox problem leading to a red flag. The Lotus’ brakes were then seen to be on fire but this year however, the marshals were quick enough to extinguish the flames themselves. Seven minutes before the end of the session and another red flag caused by the temporary curbs. At the end of the session Lewis Hamilton topped the timesheets, followed by Vettel just under half a second slower. The second session was nearly as exciting as the first; with Kamui Kobayashi taking flight in his Sauber over the tight chicane of turn 10. Numerous drivers had brief comings together with the wall; with Buemi faring the worst. The Swiss broke the front right suspension forcing retirement. Jenson Button appeared to have the most luck (relatively speaking) just avoiding a head on collision into the wall, but also had to retire as he was unable to put the car into reverse to rejoin the track. Vettel lead the timesheets at the end of the session, from Alonso, then Hamilton. Overnight into third practice, more work was completed; removing the curbs at turns three, seven, and fourteen. The Red Bull of Mark Webber seemed to come to life in this session, topping the timesheets with Button behind. The championship leader could only achieve third place – still ahead a championship rival; Fernando Alonso. Qualifying one saw the usual teams in the dropout zone; Ricciardo out-paced Liuzzi who coincidently was to suffer a grid penalty anyway. Both Virgins finished above the HRTs, and Lotus ahead of the Virgins – a similar result to most races. The big name to drop in Q1 was Vitaly Petrov who was relegated by his team-mate Bruno Senna in the dying seconds.
IMAGE © GETTY IMAGES
Disappointingly, neither Force India drivers opted to set a time in Q3, with Schumacher choosing only to drive an out lap. All but Vettel took to the track immediately, causing quite a traffic jam with Hamilton at the back, resulting in a scuffle with Massa. The times kept tumbling but McLaren were unable to refuel Hamilton’s car in time for him to put a quicker lap in, limiting him to fourth position, behind Button. Webber managed second on the grid while the championship leader Vettel secured yet another pole position. The race saw a clean start by all the drivers, with Lewis Hamilton having a great start only to be blocked by Webber – costing the Brit a few places into the first corner. Vettel held his lead from Button and began to pull away. Lewis now had his work cut out for him as he started to work through the pack taking Rosberg on the outside of turn six. Lap 10 saw Webber take Alonso for third position while Massa and Hamilton were close behind. After both Massa and Hamilton pitted on lap 12, Lewis overtook Massa into turn seven but the two came together as Massa tried to defend his position. This cost Lewis his front wing, and Massa ended up with a punctured rear tyre. Unsurprisingly the stewards gave Lewis a drive through penalty.
IMAGE © MCLAREN.COM
IMAGE © GETTY IMAGES Lap 29 saw a scuffle between Perez and Rosberg, leaving Perez in the sights of Schumacher. Schumacher had the better drive out of turn seven and Perez tried to take a defensive line on the outside, but Schumacher ploughed into the back of him sending the front of his car high into the air and ultimately into the crash barrier, luckily avoiding his team-mate. This called for the sixth safety car in just four races at this circuit to be deployed. After the safety car came in, Webber out-braked an unassuming Alonso into the chicane of turn ten for third position, and within the next few laps Hamilton began to work up the pack – taking Sutil, then Rosberg, then di Resta and was up into fifth position. Just 11 laps before the end of the race, Vettel entered the pits for his final stop, and on the release nearly came together with a Lotus released into the path of the Red Bull. Vettel went on to win his ninth race of the season, with Button in second place – leaving Vettel needing just one point from the remaining five races to clinch the title for the second year in succession. Webber joined them on the podium in third position, with Alonso and Hamilton in fourth and fifth respectively. Paul di Resta scored his season’s best finish in sixth place.
IMAGE © MERCEDES GP
IMAGE © GETTY IMAGES
THE FINAL
IMAGE
VETTEL CELEBRATING HIS SINGAPORE GP WIN AND 1 POINT AWAY FROM THE TITLE © GETTY IMAGES
DRIVER STANDINGS 1ST PLACE
RED BULL RACING
SEBASTIAN VETTEL
309
3RD PLACE
184
168
185
4TH
RED BULL RACING
MARK WEBBER
182
6TH
FERRARI
FELIPE MASSA
84
MERCEDES GP
NICO ROSBERG
62
9TH
JENSON BUTTON
MCLAREN
LEWIS HAMILTON
7TH
MCLAREN
FERRARI
FERNANDO ALONSO
5TH
2ND PLACE
8TH
MERCEDES GP
M. SCHUMACHER
52
LOTUS RENAULT
VITALY PETROV
34
10TH
NO CONTRACT
NICK HEIDFELD
34
11TH
FORCE INDIA
ADRIAN SUTIL
28
13TH
FORCE INDIA
PAUL DI RESTA
20
15TH
TORO ROSSO
SEBASTIEN BUEMI
13
17TH
WILLIAMS
RUBENS BARRICHELLO
4
19TH
WILLIAMS
PASTOR MALDONADO
1
21ST
TEAM LOTUS
JARNO TRULLI
0
HRT F1
23RD
VITANTONIO LIUZZI
0
25TH
VIRGIN RACING
TIMO GLOCK 27TH
0 HRT F1
DANIEL RICCIARDO
0
12TH
SAUBER
KAMUI KOBAYASHI
27
14TH
TORO ROSSO
JAIME ALGUERSUARI
16
16TH
SAUBER
SERGIO PEREZ 18TH
LOTUS RENAULT
BRUNO SENNA 20TH
9 2 N/A
PEDRO DE LA ROSA
0
22ND
TEAM LOTUS
HEIKKI KOVALAINEN
0
24TH
VIRGIN RACING
JEROME D’AMBROSIO
0
26TH
HRT F1
NAHRAIN KARTHIKEYAN
0
28TH
TEAM LOTUS
KARUN CHANDHOK
0
CONSTRUCTORS STANDINGS 1ST PLACE
2ND PLACE
3RD PLACE
4TH PLACE
RED BULL MCLAREN 491 353 FERRARI 268
5TH PLACE
RENAULT 70
MERCEDES
114
6TH PLACE
FORCE INDIA
48
7TH PLACE
SAUBER 36
9TH PLACE
WILLIAMS 5
11TH PLACE
8TH PLACE
TORO ROSSO
29
10TH PLACE
TEAM LOTUS
0
12TH PLACE
HRT F1 TEAM
0
VIRGIN RACING
0
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FORMULA 1 2011 REVIEW
We take a look at the latest edition from the bafta award winning team at codemasters. This year’s copy brings loads of new features like Co-op Championship and a Full 24 car race online, also K.E.R.S and D.R.S. to add into the mix. Words Jack Leslie Photos Codemasters
%' (( WATCH THE LAUNCH TRAILER Safety car leading the pack around Silverstone >>
T
he release of the F1 2011 game was highly anticipated. After such strong reviews and even an award, a BAFTA for best sport game, for the 2010 version, the pressure for Codemasters was on. After playing the game numerous times, reading numerous reviews and paying close attention to detail, I have the review here in FinalSector. The Safety Car was one of the most demanded aspects if the game, and after some major accidents or bad weather, the silver Mercedes Benz SLS AMG rolls into view. I found it took quite a long time to pick up all the field, but the AI are impressive as they weaved to warm up their tyres, and I imitated. Restarts were also well timed, and presented the challenge of driving flat out on cold tyres.
Be the Driver, Live the Life, Go Compete Formula 1 2011 Mantra, Codemasters The graphics and physics of the game are much improved, the colours are brighter and the attention to detail is far better, even having marshals waving flags by the side of the track, and team members on the pit wall. The car’s handling is a big step forward. The handling feels heavier due to KERS and the new weight rules, with a more planted feel. You can definitely feel the added mechanical grip while also being more challenging to wrestle the car. The back end frequently breaks out creating dramatic slides and spins. However the steering is more responsive, as are the brakes. The damage to the cars is much more realistic, now smaller pieces of debris break off. I still feel it is a little bit too easy as usually in the real world hitting a wheel would break suspension, but in F1 2011 you get a free pass. The cars also roll easily now in gravel traps, which can be a pain, especially when you flip back over with no damage at all. KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) and DRS (Drag Reduction System) are a big aspect to racing, and they have incorporated it well. The AI are very intelligent using these devices. You can definitely feel the difference with DRS as you get into the tow of the car in front. KERS is a great feature, giving an unnoticed boost but also making you think due to how you use it. I would however have liked the button for DRS on the controller to have been along side the KERS one, as that would make it easier. I am extremely impressed with the pit and paddock area for Career mode; it’s a big step up and takes the game to a whole new level. The laptop and email idea is clever, and creates a more realistic feel. The garages are very similar to the ones the teams use, but I was a little disappointed with the amount of helmets on offer. Career mode is very similar to F1 2010, but with enhanced visual elements creating a more modern feel. The new visual elements throughout the game make it look more modern, detailed and boost an already user friendly game.
The added cinematics of the game are a welcome addition, the congratulations in the pit garage, or an unhappy driver give the player a feel of what f1 drivers expect in that car. Also the interviewing section is improved, with a wide range of questions and answers available which all add up to the press clippings you get before the next race; which are insightful and exciting. The multiplayer additions have been very successful, adding an element of fun to the game as you share experiences with the masses. It has highly boosted the games appeal and has been received well. Some of the down sides however are letting the game down, the AI are quite difficult, especially for a novice, and there are still problems with the game. For instance I had what looked like water coming out of my car for the whole race. All in all the game emphasises its phrase "Be the Driver, Live the Life, Go Compete" with all aspects of those sections improved, it has all the right ingredients to make an amazing game, but with the feedback coming back to the Codemasters team I am sure 2012 will be even better.
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Force India are enjoying heady days, sitting 6th in the constructors championship, another strong double points finish in Singapore has cemented them ahead of the chasing duo of Torro Rosso and Sauber. Swiss based squad, Sauber were looking good for the 6th place finish but have slipped out of the points of late and come to Japan armed with updates to get them back into the hunt. Technical director, James Key said, "We will bring a wide ranging aero package for the car, which includes a completely new front wing, new rear wings, new turning vanes and side pod deflectors, new brake ducts and modifications to the floor. This was always planned for Suzuka and, if it all works well, it should give us a reasonable step forward. Obviously we want to bounce back from some recent bad luck.” Also trying to get into the points are Williams. Pastor Maldonado has finished the last two races agonisingly short of a points paying position, finishing in 11th on both occasions. Williams have suffered their worst ever season this year, so far only amassing five points and with Torro Rosso nineteen points ahead of them, there is little chance of overhauling them for eighth place. On a more positive note for the team, new chief operations engineer, Mark Gillan, has now taken up his post with the team, after shadshad owing the outgoing Sam Michael in Singapore, he will take his place on the pit wall from Suzuka onwards. Gillan is also optimistic for the remaining races after the team gained much needed insight into the troublesome FW33s issues. “Our levels of understanding regarding the driveability issues of the FW33 have increased significantly since Singapore and we are currently work ing hard to optimise the set-up and improve the car going into the Japanese GP.” Pirelli will proved the team’s with their medium (prime) and soft (option) tyres for the race.
TV TIMES Friday 7 October: Practice one - 0200-0330 Practice two - 0600-0730 Saturday 8 October: Practice three - 0300-0400 Qualifying - 0600-0700 Sunday 9 October: Race - 0600 *UK Coverage times All free practice sessions will be shown on the BBC Red Button.
IMAGE © MERCEDES GP
TEAM BY TEAM
UPDATES BY ROBYN BLAKE
FERRARI FORCE INDIA HRT F1 TEAM LOTUS RENAULT MCLAREN MERCEDES GP RED BULL SAUBER TEAM LOTUS TORO ROSSO VIRGIN RACING WILLIAMS F1 © GETTY IMAGES
FERRARI
Having conceded that they are the third fastest car on the grid, Pat Fry also says they are fighting to understand the issues that are hindering them. Singapore was a tough race for both drivers, but Fry reveal they are able to 'tidy up' a little in Japan before bringing more parts for Korea. They are cautious about the high speed comparisons to Silverstone, and believe they will struggle at Suzuka with the tyres.
FORCE INDIA
Declaring their intention to beat Renault in the constructors championship has given the remaining races a clear purpose for the Silverstone based outfit. Vijay Mallya's team will have to find 22 points to overhaul the deficit, "Now I’ve got my sights set on fifth, and I think we can do it, with a bit of luck!�
HRT F1 TEAM
Daniel Ricciardo is another driver who will be translating the time he spent in the simulator to step out onto the Suzuka track for the first time this weekend. However, Colin Kolles remains confident that the rookie will push as hard as he has at other tracks. Narain Karthiekeyan will be replacing Vitantonio Liuzzi for the first Friday practice in preparation for the Indian GP. The upgrades they brought to Singapore should still show an improvement on the medium/high downforce track.
LOTUS RENAULT
The team are becoming increasingly aware of Force India's presence behind them, with James Allison admitting, "Force India is starting to breathe down our neck." The team is determined to 'exorcise' the experience they suffered in Singapore, and are confident they will be in the hunt for points once more.
MCLAREN
Acknowledging that they have the only other driver, Jenson Button, who can provide an 'albeit slim' mathematical challenge to Vettel's title hopes, McLaren head to Japan still with the desire to fight for the remaining wins available. A successful rear wing test in Singapore see their 2011 development continue, with an eye on 2012 of course.
MERCEDES GP
The team feel positive the track should suit the natural set-up of their car, Norbert Haug has commented on their technical package being naturally adapted to the higher speed circuit. This said, the team is pragmatic and currently feels unable to make an impact on the front running teams, and so will be channeling their energy on repeating previous strong performances.
RED BULL
Sebastian Vettel was stopped by Jenson Button from taking his second title in Singapore, but as long as he finishes in the points this weekend he'll become the youngest double world champion, taking that record from Fernando Alonso. Whereas Vettel is surely heading towards another title, pressure mounts on his team mate Mark Webber to claim his first win of the season. Suzuka is a track that suits him, and would be good timing as the chse heats up for second place.
SAUBER
With the home advantage boost for Kamui Kobayashi, the Swiss team will be focusing on harnessing that to move past the disappointment of their season so far. Namely the technical infringement disqualification in Australia and the gearbox failure at Monza. Kobayashi will be looking to recreate the overtaking magic he created last year, and Perez will be focusing on learning the track with a new aerodynamic package onboard. A brand new front wing, rear wings, turning vanes and side pod deflectors, brakes ducts and modifications to the floor will be set up for testing on Friday.
TEAM LOTUS
The team saw a slight improvement from the aerodynamic package they brought to Singapore, and Mike Gascoyne hopes they will be able to build on that with the use of a 'clever tyre strategy'. Tony Fernandes is relying on a good weekend, from qualifying to the chequered flag to consolidate their position as the fastest of the newest teams once more.
TORO ROSSO
Toro Rosso were another team with a tough weekend in Singapore, and so both Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari are striving to recoup any those lost opportunities this weekend in Japan. A resurgence in talk about selling the team and no commitment from the team for 2012 increases the pressure for both drivers, but having watched Force India overhaul Sauber, will inspire them to devour the 7 points between them and the Swiss outfit.
VIRGIN RACING
Feeling accomplished following his performance in Singapore, Jerome d'Ambrosio is another driver embarking on a full weekend in Suzuka for the first time, having participated in Friday practice last year. Where d'Ambrosio is holding onto his momentum, Timo Glock is setting himself up to recover from his early retirement in Singapore.
WILLIAMS The team are heading to Japan hoping their breakthrough will give them a much needed boost. Mark Gillan, the new chief operations engineer, explains they have a greater understanding of the car since Singapore. Regarding the driveability issues that surround the car, Gillan says the team have been focusing on optimising the set-up and capturing the optimum aerodynamic window. Maldonado will be travelling to Japan for the first time and is sure the track will soon become a firm favourite.
4 THOUGHTS Who will finish second in the championship? CHRISTINA EADES The fight for second will end with Jenson Button taking victory. The Brit has overcome reliability issues and fought back to become the leading team member at McLaren. The Ferrari of Fernando Alonso seems to be struggling in the second half of the race calendar with the Italian team falling victim to the rejuvenated Red Bull and McLaren. Mark Webber will keep the Spaniard at bay leaving Button to fight with, the soon to be crowned World Champion, Sebastian Vettel. Button is the only driver who can statistically take the title from Vettel and although this is highly unlikely in my opinion, he has bounced back from some lacklustre performances in the British and German Grand Prix. He is determined to finish the 2011 World Championship second best and is focused on winning every race. With the most overtakes this season, he is a racer and will not give up any position without a wheel to wheel fight!
GREGORY HAINES Many of us have focused on the superb battle for second for much of the season and there are four contenders involved, three of which are World Champions. However I believe the other one is the man most likely. Mark Webber has the best all-round package underneath him. Of the five remaining venues, Red Bull have won at three for the past two years; bear in mind that India is new and Yeongam is also Red Bull territory and it’s looking pretty good, isn’t it? Furthermore, once Sebastian Vettel does wrap up title number two, he is sure to be assisting his team-mate whenever possible. Fernando Alonso does not have this luxury, with Felipe Massa generally off the pace, and we already know that McLaren certainly won’t be changing their order around as they strive only for race wins. Perhaps the irony is that, if Webber does finish second in the championship, this will officially become his best ever season…
KRIT DWIVEDI Mark Webber is my pick for being "best of the rest" in 2011 by being the "number 2 driver" in the championship challenge. I'm sure there will be a lot of predictions for Jenson Button but looking at the remaining tracks, Webber's outperformed Jenson in all apart from Abu Dhabi. Frankly, the brilliant technical masterpiece that is the Red Bull RB7 deserves nothnoth ing less than a 1-2 driver's championship result. Adrian Newey has perfected it's low downforce package which will come of use in Korea and India whilst it's well known high speed cornering prowess demands respect. McLaren has excelled in low speed corners, which save for Interlagos, the remaining tracks are largely devoid of. Webber's racing itself this year has actually been outstanding (think China, Spa, Monaco) but have been recovery drivers thanks to places lost at the start. It's about time Webber puts it all together.
GARY MARSHALL On paper, Mark Webber should easily wrap up a 1 -2 finish for Red Bull in the driver’s championship. With the same machinery at his disposal as the runaway championship leader, Sebastian Vettel that should be a foregone conclusion. Because it isn’t sewn up for the Aussie, I think that the in-form Jenson Button will finish best of the rest. Since his unbelievable win in Canada, we have seen a different Jenson Button. We have always known how good he is at overtaking, but we now see a driver starting to get the upper hand over Hamilton in the inter team-mate battle. Ferrari doesn’t look like they can provide Alonso with a package to challenge for second and Hamilton’s error strewn season has cost him dear. Button’s driving of late has been the best of his career to date and that is the reason I think he will beat Webber to the second spot.
JAPAN IN JEOPARDY WORDS : BETHANY ANDREWS
On 11th of March this year Japan was hit by one of the most severe earthquakes the world had ever seen, and the most powerful that Japan had ever suffered. It measured 8.9 on the Richter scale and was followed by a tsunami soon after. Although this seems a great deal of devastation the earthquake and tsunami were not to be the ongoing issue surrounding Japanese safety. The Fukushima power plant went into nuclear meltdown, the first major nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986. The meltdown of the plant caused a 30 kilometre evacuation of the area, now reduced to 20kilometer’s when accompanied by a government official. It is this that has caused a furore in the sporting world as the country had been deemed unsafe to compete in. A major disruption was caused to the MotoGP for the second year running with the ash cloud last year; it was thus discussed and rescheduled for October. However, this did not stop the main riders firmly denying their attendance until recently, despite all of the scientists saying that the Motegi track would be safe to ride.
Unlike the MotoGP which will be carried out the week before the Formula One grand prix the F1 race was never really called in to question. In many ways this is because of the geographical difference between the Motegi circuit and that of Suzuka, the F1 circuit, a mere 500 kilometres from the power plant. This is in comparison to the 110 kilometres that parts Motegi and Fukushima. Concerns over the races were inevitable as it would be an unnecessary risk to those who were to begin with not involved. However, the attitudes of many sports personalities have been brought into question in regards to the situation in terms of MotoGP, with both Casey Stoner and Jorge Lorenzo refusing profusely until recently. That said Formula One have shown the riders how to be gracious, though they were never at risk, they jumped to the task of aiding charities. Although Jenson Button has had his fair share of experience with Japan and has fallen in love with both the country and the people he was one of the many drivers to quickly start donating money and fund raising immediately feeling a pull towards his second home.
“My girlfriend is Japanese, but I also worked for a Japanese company for six years with Honda and I have got a lot of Japanese friends.!I have a lot of respect for the Japanese people. This is such a difficult time for them even though they always come across as so strong.” JENSON BUTTON
Jenson Button was quoted on the Daily Mail website as saying “‘my girlfriend is Japanese, but I also worked for a Japanese company for six years with Honda and I have got a lot of Japanese friends.!I have a lot of respect for the Japanese people. This is such a difficult time for them even though they always come across as so strong.” Of course Button is not the only person in the paddock who has a close personal attachment to Japan, and no one could get any nearer than that of Kamui Kobayashi Sauber racing’s Japanese driver. Around the period of the earthquake Kobayashi was testing the Sauber car in Barcelona and said “The news is depressing and I'm very sad. I can't really put in words what I feel.”!Kobayashi maintained his incredible presence in the sport however and has through this season done the country proud. This year Japan experienced and event that could have devastated their country permanently but true to form they have approached it with a dignified and meticulous manner and only six months after they are about to hold two prominent sporting events. Best of luck to Kobayashi this weekend, here’s hoping he gets another good load of points.
Image © Mclaren.com
IMAGE © TEAM LOTUS
2008 proved to be a lot better for the Italian. Now teaming with Timo Glock, the pair consistently picked up points, with Jarno leading the team even finishing third at the French Grand Prix and qualifying second at the final round of the season. The team continued to improve the following year with Jarno yet again leading the team. Two third places and a second at Japan ensured he finished eighth. Toyota left Formula One at the end of 2009 leaving Jarno to seek a new seat. Newly returned Lotus was and is his new home. The team have returned enormously off the pace but with Trulli’s experience and knowledge of the sport, he has aided the team to try and get them up to par. However, 2010 was set to be his worst year to date. With seven retirements, the F1 veteran could only manage 21st overall with his younger, less experienced team-mate of Heikki Kovalainen finishing just in front in 20th. Although the car continued to be off the pace for 2011, Jarno has improved on his performances comcom pared to the previous year. With stronger performances, and one less retirement than Heikki, Jarno is slowly but surely driving the team in the right direction. Like HRT, Lotus temporarily replaced Trulli at the German Grand Prix with Indian driver, Karun Chandok which left many wondering if he was on his way out. But he soon returned to Hungary and drove some solid performances. Currently sitting in 21st, he may be able to manage 20th or even 19th if the team continue to head in the right direction.
T N O R F N
I R A A C T E O TH Y O
T A IS :H S D WOR
When you think of Motor-sport in Japan many names spring to mind. Yamaha, Suzuki, Subaru, Kawasaki, Mitsubishi, Nissan and Honda have all been household names for as long as I can remember. ! Following their endeavours in the World Rally Championship and 24 hour Le Mans, in 1999 Japanese Automotive company Toyota announced plans to make its Formula One debut. After extensive testing and promotion the ‘Panasonic Toyota Racing’ team made its first appearance in the Formula One World Championship in 2002. The team was welcomed into the hearts of the Japanese fans that are renowned for their enthusiastic and at times fanatical worship of their motor-sporting heroes. Toyota racing became immediately known for its high budget and investment into the sport, introducing familiar names Allan McNish and Mika Salo as drivers and accomplishing lucrative sponsorship deals with international companies such as Panasonic and Esso. There was a great deal of expectation surrounding this new team born from the Japanese automotive giant and Salo scoring a point in the teams first Grand Prix in Australia quickly helped to make Toyota the talk of the Formula One Paddock. Unfortunately the initial hype was to be short-lived. Toyota went on to score only one further point that season which Mika Salo achieved in his third race in Brazil.
AIG R C Y OLL
Throughout the 8 seasons that Toyota Racing competed within Formula One they employed some talented and experienced drivers; Ralf Schumacher, Timo Glock and Jarno Trulli to mention just a few. Coupled with a reported annual budget of up to £300m, Toyota appeared to have the recipe to bake a very tasty ’Formula One’ cake!!This was not to be the case - in a total of 139 races Toyota failed to manage a single win. Despite coming fifth in the 2009 Constructors championship and delivering some strong driverperformances from both Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock it became apparent that the team’s days in the sport were numbered.! In July 2009!Toyota-owned 'Fuji Speedway' announced it was no longer to continue hosting the Japanese Grand Prix after only making it's revamped return to the sport for the 2007 season. The Fuji Speedway circuit had been out of!the Formula one calendar!since 1977,!replaced by drivers favourite and Honda-owned Suzuka. After!much lobbying and promotion from! Toyota officials the!'new' Fuji Speedway with its safer,! Hermann Tilke designed circuit and the breathtaking backdrop of Mount Fuji,!hosted the Japanese Grand Prix in 2007 and 2008 and was expected to alternate races with Suzuka from 2009 onwards. A spokesman for the circuit commented that it had became extremely difficult to host the Formula One Grand Prix in the deteriorating economic climate - this news came after Toyota Automotive recorded its biggest ever losses in the 2008/2009 business year.
When Toyota Racing signed the 'Concorde' agreement (the contract between the FIA and championship teams, including the terms by which teams compete and share revenue) showing their commitment to the sport until 2012, the fans saw this as a glimmer of hope. Regardless of this, in November 2009 Toyota's president, Akio Toyoda, announced that Toyota Racing were withdrawing!from Formula One and ruled out any further activity including supplying engines to other teams in the short term. Toyoda, the grandson of Toyota's founder and a motorsports enthusiast himself, told the media that it was unrealistic to continue with the team in the current economic climate and that it had been!a tough deci sion!because by doing so they were betraying the expectations of their fans. He added, 'I apologise to our fans from the bottom of my heart, I made the decision myself'. The decision brought with it heavy fines and legal costs due to the breach of agreement and resulted in over 700 redundancies at the teams headquarters in Cologne, Germany. ! In their retirement from Formula One Toyota joined a host of Japanese car manufacturers reducing their motor racing activity, examples of this are Subaru and Suzuki in the World Rally Championship and Kawasaki from its MotoGP team. In addition Honda Racing had quit the sport a year earlier to be replaced by BrawnGP and Tokyo based tyre manu-
facturer Bridgestone confirmed the rumours that they would not renew Formula One contracts after 2010. The global 'credit crunch' is not the only cause of this motor racing exodus, many believe that the sports image no longer fits in with the culture of Japanese firms with their modern emphasis on sustainability and 'green' technologies - areas in which the FIA and the remaining teams have worked hard to improve in recent years. ! Looking to the future on a positive note, the loss of such prominent names from the Championship has demonstrated the urgent need to cut costs!in all areas of Formula One from car manufacture to travel and logistics. The FIA has worked hard to enforce these savings and as a result the reduced operating costs has helped to ensure longer term commitment from the existing constructors and has once again opened the door for smaller independent teams to compete in the future. !This week Formula One's tour of the globe takes it back to Japan and the Suzuka race track with its 'Motopia' amusement park backdrop and its illustrious history of controversy and racing rivalry. As Sebastian Vettel attempts to secure his second world championship with a successive 'hat-trick' of Japanese Grand Prix wins, the number of spectators is expected to be at an all time high. I can confidently say that whatever the future holds for Formula One and motormotor sport, Japan will not give up without a fight.
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japanese grand prix suzuka 1987 words : ewan marshall
mansell prost senna
After an absence of ten years the Japanese Grand Prix finally found its way back onto the Formula One Calendar in November 1987, with the Suzuka Circuit playing host to the penultimate round of the campaign. Purposely built by Honda in 1962, the unique figure of eight layout proved an instant hit with drivers and was hoped to be the perfect setting for the Japanese Manufacturer to demonstrate its dominance of the sport to its internal market. However all was not well inside its main operation at Williams. In the two weeks which had followed the previous round in Mexico, the turbulent relationship between team-mates Nigel Mansell and Nelson Piquet had taken another bitter twist. This time the former had publically claimed that the latter had tried to run him off the road, as the two disputed the lead in the second half of a race interrupted by a severe crash involving Arrow’s Derek Warwick. Consequently Mansell finished second to Piquet on the road, but due to the aggregate result managed to triumph over his main rival and reduce the deficit in the championship battle to a mere twelve points. Thus the stage was set, with Mansell fully aware that he had to finish ahead of Piquet to ensure that the title went down to the wire next time out in Australia. However Lady Luck would desert the Englishman during the opening qualifying session of the weekend and as he ran slightly wide out of the S-Curves, the rear end of his Williams FW11B stepped out, sending him crashing into the adjacent tyre barrier. Sadly that would be it for Mansell; sustaining an injury which put him out for the rest of the weekend and confirmed Piquet as World Champion for the third time. Of course it was bitter pill to swallow given that he had won twice as many races as the Brazilian, but this did not appear to ruin Honda’s plans – which immediately turned its focus onto celebrating the triumph being concluded on home soil. Although the accident had been a massive blow, the remainder of the weekend still proved to be an enthralling affair with the re-emergence of Ferrari the lynchpin behind its success. 1987 had proved to be rather up and down for the Maranello squad, but continued modifications to the F187 had started to reap rewards and this was underlined by the confident demeanour of Gerhard Berger, who managed to snatch pole with team-mate Michele Alboreto up there in fourth. At the start Berger would convert his pole into the lead; however the same could not be said for Alboreto, who suffered clutch issues on the line and dropped to the back of the grid, leading to Philippe Alliot’s Lola Ford being shoved into the pit wall and into retirement by Rene Arnoux’s Ligier. Meanwhile at the front Alain Prost - who had been Berger’s main challenger during qualifying - moved in for the kill at the start of lap two, only to immediately slow when his McLaren developed a left rear puncture. While the misfortune dropped the Frenchman out of contention for victory, it would provoke one of the greatest drives of the season. Having eventually exited the pits a full two laps behind the leader Prost would drive like a man possessed, making up half of the deficit and lapping a full second faster than the remainder of the field for the majority of the race. With Prost battling back up to seventh at the flag, McLaren’s chances immediately turned to Stefan Johansson who responded by closing in on Berger and harrying the Ferrari. However the Swede’s challenge would be short-lived and as he was forced to back off to save fuel in the second half of the race, eventually finishing third after surrendering the runner’s up spot to Senna’s Lotus with less than a mile to go. Elsewhere, the Benetton B187 would once again have a strong outing in the hands of Belgian Thierry Boutsen - running fourth for the majority of the race before dropping back one place to fifth with similar fuel issues to Johansson. This elevated Alboreto into fourth place, completing a fine recovery drive for the Italian despite suffering from a cracked exhaust and being forced into a spin when Nannini’s Minardi chopped him off. There would also be joy for the local fans with Satoru Nakajima finishing in the final points position; his Lotus re-passing the slowing Eddie Cheever in the final stages. This of course meant that there would be no points for the newly-crowned Champion, whose race came to a rather embarrassing end from Honda’s point of view when his engine expired on lap forty-six, right in front of the television cameras. But the car giant was probably more uncomfortable with the fact that it had not been a match for Ferrari, with Gerhard Berger taking his second career win after leading all but one of the fifty-one laps. So while the first Japanese Grand Prix to be held at Suzuka had not bear witness to a Honda triumph and had brought a premature end to the drivers’ title, it did witness the return of Ferrari to the top step of the podium – a feat which would be repeated later that month with Berger once again prevailing on the streets of Adelaide.
TOP 5
JAPANESE GP OF THE LAST DECADE WORDS : JACK LESLIE
PHOTO : MERCEDES GP
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The 2008 Japanese Grand Prix will be remembered by Lewis Hamilton as one to forget, after winning at the Fuji track the year before, and qualifying on pole it had looked like he would be competitive, but his race was ruined when at the first corner he out braked himself, locked up and went off track while also forcing off many others. He received a penalty for this but by the time he took it he was at the back after being turned around by Felipe Massa. He ended up finishing 12th, 1m20 behind eventual race winner Fernando Alonso making it a double win after his victory In Singapore the weekend before. Kubica, Raikkonen, Piquet Jnr, Trulli, Vettel, Massa and Webber rounded out the points. Coulthard didn’t even last a lap after being swiped of the track at turn 1; a heavy impact. The disappointing result for Hamilton led to Massa closing to just 5 points in the title, but we all know how that turned out.
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The 2010 Grand Prix in Japan saw Vettel walk it, yet again, following his dominant win the year before. He however was pushed to the flag by team mate Webber just 1 second back, with Alonso 3rd. He was followed by Button, Hamilton, Schumacher, Kobayashi and Heidfeld with Barrichello and Buemi rounding out the top 10. The race began with a bang as 2 separate incidents occurred. First Petrov’s Renault cut across the nose of Nico Hulkenberg’s Williams putting Petrov in the wall and breaking Hulkenberg’s suspension. Then going into the first corner Massa braked on the grass, and clattered into Liuzzi in a big accident. During the Safety Car, Kubica’s wheel came off, while he was in 2nd place; causing him to pull over. Home Favourite Kobayashi pulled off some heart in mouth overtakes to carve his way to 7th. Late drama came from Nico Rosberg after his wheel fell of at high speed, causing him to retire.
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The Japanese Grand Prix held on the 8th of October at Suzuka saw Michael Schumacher win the 2000 world drivers title for Ferrari, the first since 1979 and Schumacher’s 3rd title over all. The race saw a dramatic duel between Schumacher and Mclaren’s Mika Hakkinen but the final pit stops lead to Schumacher emerging ahead to win by just 1.7 seconds. 3rd finished David Coulthard who finished over a minute behind ahead of Rubens Barrichello, Jenson Button and Jacques Villeneuve.
i iggn % ( ' %' 1 The 2007 Japanese Grand Prix returned to a heavily re-vamped Fuji track, with the race taking place in monsoon conditions. The first 19 laps took place behind the safety car, as the conditions were too bad to race. After the race re-started the Mclarens of Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso led the field, and it ended with Hamilton winning but Alonso crashed out in the treacherous conditions due to aquaplaning. That left Heikki Kovalainen in his 1st season in F1 to finish 2nd ahead of the Ferrari of Raikkonen, who at the restart was in 20th ahead of Coulthard, Fisichella, Massa, Kubica and Sutil. Vettel in the Torro Rosso and Webber in the Red Bull collided behind the Safety Car clearing Alonso’s accident, but the race will be remembered for those soaking wet conditions.
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The Japanese Grand Prix in 2005 was one containing outstanding overtakes, with the drivers qualifying in 17th and 16th coming 1st and 3rd. The winner was Kimi Raikkonen after he overtook Gincarlo Fisichella on the final lap going into turn 1. In 2nd finished Fisichella with Alonso 3rd after he overtook Michael Schumacher around the outside at the flat out 130R corner. Mark Webber and Jenson Button finished 4th and 5th with Coulthard, Michael Schu macher and Ralf Schumacher finishing off the points. The later had started on pole, but faded throughout the race.
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