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The drivers love Suzuka. Its
undulations, challenging corners and unique figure-of-eight layout make
it the ultimate test of man and machine, and no bad drivers have ever
won this race. It was where Ayrton Senna, Bruno’s uncle, clinched all
three of his world championships, and it was where Seb Vettel claimed
his second title last year. Aerodynamic downforce is crucial, especially
through the high-speed changes of direction in sector one, and the
drivers have to be very accurate because the track is narrow and there’s
very little run-off. When you combine everything, it’s a brilliant
challenge.
Mark Gillan, Chief
Operations Engineer:
Suzuka is a fantastic old-style track with its trademark figure-of-eight
layout that proves a tough technical test for the drivers. The circuit
layout leads to very high average cornering speeds and energy input into
the tyres, but it’s reasonably light on the brakes. Following Singapore
we have been working hard to ensure that the cars run as reliably as
possible for the remaining races. Given the excellent pace shown at
Singapore in both qualifying and the race, we expect to be strong in
Suzuka and will bring further updates as part of our continuous
improvement process.
Bruno Senna:
I’m really looking forward to the Japanese Grand Prix. It’s one of my
favourite tracks of the season and it’s very fast and flowing but quite
narrow compared to some of the other circuits we visit. It feels
amazingly quick and is one of the biggest challenges as a driver. It is
similar to Spa-Francorchamps so it’s a real drivers’ track. You can get
variable weather in Japan ranging from warm and sunny to rain that stops
qualifying. It’s always exciting though and we have a good potential to
be strong there.
Pastor Maldonado:
I’m really looking forward to getting to Japan this week. I think
everyone in the paddock looks forward to this race, as the fans in Japan
are some of the best in the world and give us all such a warm welcome. I
also enjoy the track as it’s one of the historic circuits in Formula
One. There is a good combination of high speed corners and we run close
to the maximum amount of downforce. It’s a great challenge as a driver.
Rémi Taffin, Head of
Renault Sport F1 Track Operations:
The power sensitivity at Suzuka is not higher than say Canada or
Valencia, but the variety of corners over the lap requires some careful
preparation. The first half of the circuit, from the First Curve to
Spoon Curve, is flowing so the engine needs to be responsive and smooth
throughout the power curve. The second half of the track, from the exit
of Spoon to the end of the pit straight, is all about outright power as
90% of this section is spent at full throttle. We will most likely
introduce new engines here for this reason.
Paul Hembery, Pirelli
Motorsport Director:
Japan is an extremely demanding circuit – one of the places that puts
the biggest lateral loads through the tyres of the year – where we have
the P Zero Silver hard compound and P Zero Yellow soft compound
nominated. The significant energy loadings come from the very fast and
long corners such as 130R and Spoon, which really work the tyres hard.
However, with a full step between the two compounds this year – we had
hard and medium in 2011 – there should be plenty of opportunity for the
teams to put together some interesting race strategies to gain track
position. The weather is always quite unpredictable in Suzuka at this
time of year, so as usual we will be bringing the Cinturato Green
intermediate and Cinturato Blue full wet tyres.
Race Data
Friday:
Practice 1: 10:00 - 11:30
Practice 2: 14:00 - 15:30
Saturday:
Practice 3: 11:00 - 12:00
Qualifying: 14:00 – 15:00
Sunday: Race: 15:00
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