Designed in 1962 as a Honda test track (and still owned by the motoring giant), Suzuka first hosted the Japanese Grand Prix in 1963. Its first Formula 1 World Championship event occurred in 1987.
Not much has changed since then.
Suzuka is a rare example of a track which has stood the test of time. It features a mixture of corner types in a layout which tests man and machine like few others.
A lap begins on the start-finish straight (obviously), with a reasonably long run down to Turn 1, a downhill right-hander with a very fast entry and the first overtaking opportunity of the lap. The drivers bleed off speed as they go through this corner ready for the tighter right of Turn 2 which follows immediately.
It's slightly uphill here, and the track continues to climb steadily as the drivers head into one of the finest group of corners in the world, the S Curves (Turns 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7).
These are sequence of medium-speed corners, starting with a left, then a right, then another left, another right and a final more open, sweeping left.
The exit of each corner leads straight into the entry of the next and even the smallest error can ruin a driver's rhythm and cost him a lot of time.
The final corner of the group, Turn 7, opens onto a short straight before the fast entry to the first (Turn 8) of the two right-handed Degner Curves. It looks so easily to put a wheel wide on the exit here,
As soon as they're through the first, the drivers begin to brake for the second, a much tighter 90-degree corner (Turn 9). From here the cars pass through a short tunnel under a different section of the circuit (which they drive over later in the lap).
Turn 10 is a right-hand kink just after the tunnel, then it's the hairpin left of Turn 11. If one car is significantly faster than another overtaking is possible here under braking, but a little bit of courage is needed to even think about it.
And if the guy you're trying to overtake doesn't play ball, it's easy to lose a front wing.
Next up is the long, sweeping flat-out right-hander of Turn 12, before another of Formula 1's great corners, Spoon.
This is a beautiful double-apex (Turns 13 and 14) left-hander, the first part slightly quicker than the second. Taking a smooth line through here is crucial for a good lap time as it leads onto the circuit's longest full-throttle zone.
The back straight is beautiful as far as straights go, with a pleasant downhill blast into a shallow valley before the track rises again on the approach to the Crossover.
This is spot where the track passes over itself at the point just after Degner.
And next up is one of the most famous corners in the world—130R.
Named for the original radius of the corner (130 metres), 130R (Turn 15) is the fastest corner of the year, a left-hander taken at full speed thanks to the incredible level of downforce an F1 car generates.
Until 2002, this corner was a fearsome test, and taking it flat out was a true challenge. It was re-profiled into a more open, two-part left in 2003, and the greater and greater levels of downforce modern cars have mean taking it without lifting is now relatively easy.
And the name is no longer strictly accurate, but we'll forgive that—"85 and 340R" just wouldn't sound the same.
Overtaking is possible along the straight before 130R, or immediately afterwards under braking for the Casio Triangle (Turns 16 and 17). This tight chicane jinks right then left, dramatically slowing the cars before releasing them through Turn 18 back onto the start/finish straight.
The line is only a short distance down the road.
The pit lane entry is on the inside of Turn 18, and the exit is just before Turn 1.
Photo credit: Shiraga
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