Japanese Grand Prix

The Japanese Grand Prix has a reputation as perhaps the most emotionally dramatic of the grands prix staged in the Formula 1 championship series, and with good reason. Firstly, the Japanese GP has been assigned as the last race of the season for several years, and the determining race of the world championship, seeing much triumph and heartbreak since the Japanese Grand Prix became a more stable F1 event in 1987. Secondly, many drivers find the Suzuka Circuit, which has been home to the Japanese GP from 1987 to 2006, as one of the most challenging circuits in the calendar.

Like other grands prix, the Japanese Grand Prix was run independently from the Formula 1 series and the first GP was held in 1963 at the Suzuka Circuit, and won by Peter Warr. The Japanese Grand Prix joined Formula 1 in 1976, but held at the Fuji Speedway, where the previous nine Japanese GPs were staged. This would be the first of many dramatic races, with Niki Lauda and James Hunt, who were vying for the World title that year, racing in a monsoon. In the end, Lauda bowed out of the race, Hunt garnered enough points to win the series but lost the Japanese GP to Mario Andretti.

Although this race and the succeeding year were both very well attended and received, there was not another Japanese Grand Prix in the next ten years, and when it did come back, it was held at Suzuka. The Fuji Speedway, which was originally designed as a superspeedway, was originally a very dangerous track, and unfortunately the scene of a tragic accident in 1977, which was probably the cause of F1's relocation. In 2003, the Speedway was redesigned by Hermann Tilke and many modifications went underway, earning its reinsertion into the Formula 1 in 2007. Although the Fuji Speedway is now much improved, it retains its famous 1.5 km long straight, which is one of the longest amongst all motorsport circuits ever made.

It was announced in the 2006 Japanese Grand Prix, which was won by Fernando Alonso, that beginning in 2009, the Japanese GP will alternate between the Fuji Speedway and Suzuka circuits. The first to win at the newly designed Fuji Speedway in 2007 was Lewis Hamilton.
 

After the British Warr won the very first Japanese Grand Prix, only Japanese dominated the grand prix for ten years, with Motoharu Kurosawa winning the GP twice. After the Japanese Grand Prix joined the F1, Ayrton Senna, Damon Hill, Gerhard Berger, and Mika Häkkinen each matched Kurosawa's effort, while Michael Schumacher, in typical Schumacher style, has won at Suzuka 6 times. As many "Schumi" fans know, Schumacher redeemed his 1999 loss here, by winning his first World title for Ferarri in 2000, and beat Juan Manuel Fangio's record in 2003, when he won his sixth World title, also at Suzuka. The Japanese Grand Prix is famous as the setting of the famed rivalry between Schumacher and Häkkinen, as well as an earlier rivalry of legendary proportions between Senna and Alain Prost.

International fans arrive at the Fuji Speedway from the Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka airports, and then take trains towards either the Fuji Express Highland, Daiyuzan, Mishima and Shin-Fuji stations, all of which have shuttle buses that take you to the circuit. You could also rent a car, but you'll be parking offsite and still need to take shuttle buses to the speedway.

To maximize their Japanese experience, fans opt to stay at Tokyo, even if it is a hundred km away; since the trains in Japan are the most efficient all over the world, the commute from Tokyo to the track and back doesn't take long. Those who wish to stay closer to the Fuji circuit can stay at the nearby towns of Lake Yamanakako, Numazu, Sengokuhara, or Gotemba.

The best Japanese Grand Prix tickets are general admission tickets. Because the lap is shorter than most GP circuits, there is a lot of the track to see wherever you may situate yourself. On the other extreme, the most expensive Japanese Grand Prix tickets are priced so because all the drivers, their teams and F1 personnel walk past these seats to get to the paddock, providing many celebrity sightings for die-hard fans.