To Suzuka for something new and something old

Statistics corner

The land of cherry blossom, known in Japanese as “Sakura,” has hosted 40 Formula 1 World Championship Grands Prix to date. The first was held in 1976 and a total of three different circuits have been home to races. In 1994 and 1995, the Aida circuit hosted what was known as the Pacific Grand Prix. There have been 38 editions of the actual Japanese Grand Prix, with four of them (1976, 1977, 2007 and 2008) run at Fuji, while the remaining 34 have all been run at Suzuka, the first of these in 1987.

Michael Schumacher has the best record in Japan. The seven-time world champion took six wins at Suzuka – one with Benetton, the rest with Ferrari – and also won both Aida races, again with Benetton. Lewis Hamilton, who shares Schumacher’s record for the number of world titles, is second on the Japanese list, with five wins, one at Fuji and four at Suzuka. Of the teams, McLaren tops the chart with nine wins, followed by Ferrari and Red Bull, equal second with seven. Schumacher also heads the list for pole positions with eight and Ferrari is the most successful team in this regard with ten.

The Japanese Grand Prix’s move to an early date in the calendar has robbed the event of the chance to decide the outcome of the drivers’ world championship. Up until 2023, the matter was settled here no fewer than 14 times. Ayrton Senna clinched all three of his crowns at Suzuka, in 1998, 1990 and 1991, Schumacher won one in Aida in 1995 and two at Suzuka in 2003 and 2003, and Mika Hakkinen won his two titles in Suzuka in 1998 and 1999. Others to get their hands on the championship in Japan were James Hunt (1976), Nelson Piquet (1987), Alain Prost (1989), Damon Hill (1996), Sebastian Vettel (2011) and Max Verstappen (2022).