Japanese Grand Prix Review

Of course, the thing that this year's Japanese GP had in common with Silverstone two years ago was that we had faster men burning their way from the stern. This time it was thanks not a priest running onto the track causing a mad rush for the pits, but a qualifying lottery that started wet and just got more wet. Formula 1, being the meritocracy that it is, and rightfully so, doesn't get these kinds of jumbled grids often. One ought to be grateful for the action provided when it does happen.

Thick black marks against Network Ten here in Australia though, where the Japanese GP coverage was understandably on tape delay, following the telecast of the Bathurst 1000. With only 90 minutes for the race before the station had to move to the obviously more important programming of Australia's Brainiest Kid, including ad breaks, Ten took to forwarding the tape during the commercials, meaning that Australian viewers missed out on some of the vital action, especially around the first pit stops. Atrociously unsatisfactory, that was.

The fantastic race managed to knock off from the motorsport front pages what had been one of the biggest stories over the weekend, namely the FIA's proposed rule changes (what, again?!?) for 2006. In addition to the technical change of moving to V8s, the proposals include the return of tyre changes, the banning of spare cars and third cars, a limited number of pit crew during pit stops, and the elimination qualifying system that has been much touted in recent weeks.

Needless to say, the Japanese tyre manufacturer has suffered more at the hands of the one-tyre rule this year than Michelin. Admittedly, the one-tyre rule hasn't produced that many tyre-wear problems and resultant dramatic finishes, so the return of tyre changes is, once more, neither here nor there. It is the political implications of the proposal, plus the fact that the rules are changing again, with their cost effects on teams and the confusion for the average fan, that is the most troubling aspect.

On a track which is not his favourite and on which he has not necessarily excelled in the past, Kimi Raikkonen took McLaren's sixth-straight victory and their seventh in eight races, in so doing recording his seventh win for the year, overtaking champion-elect Fernando Alonso's tally. Once again struck with bad luck in practice with yet another engine change, in the end it meant little as the rain in qualifying relegated both McLarens to virtually the back of the grid anyway.

From there it was not long before the McLaren's latent speed began to shine through, although around Suzuka it seemed as though Alonso at least may have been just as fast. Kimi could also make use of fuel strategy which had him pitting last out of the leaders, but he still had to put two fines moves on Michael Schumacher, and on Giancarlo Fisichella at the start of the last lap, blowing past them on the front straight and cutting in front going into turn one.

But it was not enough for McLaren to stop Renault retaking the lead in the constructors' title, after Juan-Pablo Montoya crashed out after being shoved wide by Jacques Villeneuve, for which JV was penalised 25s post-race. That seemed a tad harsh for the Canadian; sure, he did not give the McLaren enough racing room, but JPM had also taken a risk by trying to round past the Sauber on the outside of the sweep onto the front straight. Jacques would have expected him to be tucked behind, not alongside.

As good as Raikkonen's drive had been, in many respects Alonso's was better. He could match McLaren's speed; he had simply been let down by strategy which pitted him too early compared to his direct rivals. The mix-up over Christian Klien also cost him. After crossing the chicane in trying to pass the Red Bull, he let the Austrian back in front, but he had had a better, straighter run onto the front straight, which allowed him to take Christian back immediately.

Fernando was already a good five seconds down the road and attacking Michael's Ferrari when the FIA sent conflicting messages as to whether that original redress had been enough and Alonso needed to let Klien by and redress again. In the end, Fernando did, and rightly so too, for in the first instance he had still gained an advantage from the straighter run onto the pit straight. The issue was why the stewards took so long to make the call, when Alonso was way up the road. The time he lost there was costly.

But earlier in the race he had taken Michael Schumacher around the outside of the 130R kink. A corner with as fearsome a reputation as Eau Rouge or Blanchimont at Spa, where it's single file unless you want to risk banging wheels with catastrophic consequences, and the scene of numerous gigantic accidents over the years. And Fernando dared to try to out-blink Michael and succeeded. More than the championship changing hands, this pass may go down in years to come as the ultimate symbolic changing of the guard.

Later he also had to pass Michael a second time; sticking his nose in at the chicane forced the German to brake later and thus compromise his speed through the chicane onto the front straight, which gave the Renault a better run. There too he sliced around the outside of the Ferrari, although by the time they got to the corner Fernando was already well ahead. But still, how many times has Michael been passed twice in one race by someone, let alone passed around the outside on both occasions?

Fisichella seemed set for his second win of the year, and the second in a situation where rain had disadvantaged others in qualifying. Certainly, after Ralf Schumacher's strategy proved his undoing, Fisi was in the box seat. But if anything, the final result proved that the Italian, as good as he is, is simply not in the class of Michael, Kimi or Fernando. In supposedly the same kind of car as Alonso, how he could allow Raikkonen to run him down without response in the closing stages boggles the mind.

Coming in 4th after a splendid drive was Webber's Williams, showing a definite upturn in form for both driver and team. The Williams was of course not on the pace of the McLarens or Renault, but it was next best, as demonstrated by his ability to leave Schumacher, then David Coulthard, then Jenson Button in his wake. Of course, in the case of the two Englishmen, he was helped by two awesome pit stops by his crew, who beat the Red Bull and BAR mechanics in straight pit-lane battles.

On the other hand, Antonio Pizzonia was, well, unimpressive. After a decent return run at Monza, he has done nothing to suggest that Williams should keep maintaining him on their shortlist if they are serious about rebuilding towards the winner's circle. One does not suspect that Nico Rosberg would have gone any faster if he had been given his debut on as daunting a track at Suzuka, but if he is being closely considered for 2006, now would have been the perfect time to give him a go without any pressure.

Button ended up 5th having started on the front row, but BAR's performance was frankly a disappointment. Especially given that this was Honda's home track, just after Honda had announced their buy-out of BAR. That was always expected once they had taken a 45% stake in the team at the start of the year; what was not as expected was the timing, so close to the start of the next season. And what's more, it showed that Honda themselves had been instrumental in the decision to drop Takuma Sato for next year.

If it does eventuate, then the face of F1 for next year changes again, and the names above the pit-lane will less double-barrelled than ever. The line-up next year will be Renault, McLaren-Mercedes, Ferrari, Toyota, Williams-Cosworth, Honda, Red Bull-Ferrari, BMW, Midland-Toyota, Red Bull Junior (?)-Cosworth, and Honda Junior (?). This is certainly the era of the multinational marques - which makes the political battle between the FIA and the manufacturers all the more significant.

Button has recently had an unfortunate propensity to drop down the field during races, and this was no exception. BAR has had decent enough qualifying pace, but their race speed has been somewhat lacking. Be that as it may, it's not helped when there's only one driver upholding the team's honour on a Sunday afternoon. Sato had another downright shocker which all but confirmed the good sense in BAR/Honda management in not keeping him in the main team for next year.

Sato's off at the first corner was careless; on a 'green' track washed clean by rain, there was never going to be enough grip to hang around the outside. His kamikaze collision with Jarno Trulli, which put the Toyota out of the race, was ridiculous, and brought condemning words from the Italian. It also brought Taku a disqualification from the race, and rightly so too after his daft accident with Schumacher at Spa had put him on notice, and here it also brings him 'Reject of the Race' for the second time in four starts.

REJECT OF THE RACE
Takuma Sato
-Insert tasteless "kamikaze" pun here-

Ferrari do not deserve to be mentioned this far down in the review, for Michael was certainly not uncompetitive, albeit hampered by a wet set-up that had carried too much wing. Bridgestone has definitely provided an improvement in form in the last two races. Michael too was more aggressive in combat than for most of the year, and even if he lacked the car speed it was great to see him fighting on the track with Raikkonen and Alonso, even if it was only for minor points.

One ought not to forget that, just as Alonso and Raikkonen started way back, so too Michael only started 14th, and came home 7th when his effort probably deserved better. Given that the Ferrari is mediocre this year, that should not be overlooked. As for Rubens Barrichello, the Brazilian's race was all but destroyed when he too speared off at the first corner, clipping Sato in the process and puncturing his rear left. There is just one race in China left to end Rubinho's six-year tenure as a Maranello employee.

Toyota were running their TF105B which proved to be fast, or so it seemed. Just how fast one could not be sure, especially when Ralf Schumacher's strategy proved such a mistake. Starting on pole, with plenty of experience of Suzuka from his Formula Nippon days, and being the confidence driver that he is, with a more orthodox strategy Ralf may well have been in line to challenge for the win. As it was, his three-stop strategy when everyone else was two-stopping put paid to his chances.

Eventually Ralf only salvaged a point for 8th, some 49 seconds behind Raikkonen; surely those laps behind the safety car did not cost him that much time. In the other car, Trulli's run of outs continued, making it the third race in a row in which he has not scored, his longest barren run all season. In fact, although Ralf has not been as quick as Jarno, and remains four points behind the Italian, Schumacher has only failed to score in four of the eighteen races so far. Jarno has missed out in nine. Interesting stat, that.

For Villeneuve and Felipe Massa down Sauber way it was largely a case of more midfield mediocrity; how Massa must be looking forward to donning red overalls next year. They remained unlapped but only had the Jordans and Minardis behind them. Narain Karthikeyan and Christijan Albers both did well in the wet, the Indian in particular as he posted the 2nd fastest time in one of the free practice sessions and qualified a fine 11th, but come the dry on Sunday normal service was resumed.

By that we mean that Tiago Monteiro and the increasingly-impressive Robert Doornbos came to the fore again, Monteiro in particular coming from last on the grid to beat his team-mate and the two Minardis, cementing his place as the rookie of the year, and Doornbos managing to slip ahead of Karthikeyan, with Albers suffering a pit fire like Gianmaria Bruni at Monza last year. Thankfully the nasty situation was diffused, and Christijan came home four laps adrift.