Formula 1 returned to fan favourite track Suzuka for the 30th time last weekend, with the combination of treacherous corners and high-speed traps awaiting the drivers.
Created as a Honda test circuit in 1962 by Dutch designer John “Hans” Hugenholtz, the figure-of-eight venue has racked up a shocking death toll of 17 since the 1960s.
The track runs both clockwise and anti-clockwise with distinct esses that pose a threat to even the best racers.
One of the most difficult tracks in racing, the 5.8km circuit boasts a top speed of 315 km/h and an average speed of about 230 km/h.
With eight left turns and 10 right turns, there is no room for error with little run-off areas and gravel traps.
The first curve coming out of the straight is fast, and the first S curve leading into the Dunlop Curve makes a difficult Sector 1.
Three-time World Champion Max Verstappen said: “It’s definitely one of my favourites.
“It’s quite intimidating If you have a car that is not really well balanced in the first sector, it makes it really, really challenging.
“Even in the wet, because it’s so narrow, if you make a small mistake you can go off into the grass or gravel. You definitely need to be really aware.”
Sector 2 begins with a straight lead into the deadly hairpin, where the high-speed exit with little gravel or asphalt shows little forgiveness to drivers who make errors.
Leading to the Spoon Curve going from 180R to 140R, the straight that follows is a critical fast point that forces drivers to take the 130R flat-out.
If they make it out of the 130R, the tricky Casio Triangle is there to catch drivers out with the maximum breaking force before reaching the start again.
With only eight modifications to the track since the late 1950s, the track has remained largely the same since Formula 1 began racing there in the ‘80s.
Each modification to the track was due to rising safety concerns, with more crash barriers installed over time, making curves and chicanes straighter, and the addition of more run-off areas.
Alex Albon explained: “I mean, it’s changing a little bit, but it for the most part stayed true to the character of the track.
“There’s undulations, cambers, all things which race tracks have and city tracks don’t really have anymore.
“It’s just uncompromising. There’s really not much run-off. It’s white lines and grass.
“So you enjoy that as a driver to be able to feel that adrenaline when you’re driving and to know that to go quicker, you need to put a bit more on the line. That’s always quite fun.”
Suzuka has become notorious as a challenging but dangerous track for cars to race, with last weekend’s visit marked as the 10th visit since Jules Bianchi’s fatal accident.
The Frenchman aquaplaned in wet conditions in the 2014 race and collided with a tractor that had been sent to recover Adrian Sutil’s damaged Sauber in the closing stages.
Last October, two Super Formula drivers Ukyo Sasahara and Hiroki Otsu narrowly escaped death after a crash on the track’s fastest corner, 130R.
With tracks like Nürburgring having an estimated death toll of over 70, racing series are slowly turning away from perilous tracks due to rising safety concerns.
The Japanese close-wheeled racing series returns to Suzuka after a horrific accident last summer caused an early end to the race, as Nissan driver Tsugio Matsuda endured a high-speed crash coming out of a deadly corner.
The two-time GT500 champion was hunting for a podium position when he crashed into a GT300 car on the exit of the high-speed 130R corner, flying head-first into the catch fence.
Airlifted from his disintegrating car to intensive care in a local hospital, Matsuda was lucky to be alive and will luckily make his Super GT return with Kondo Racing for the 2024 GT500 series.
While it may be one of the most dangerous circuits on the F1 calendar, many drivers still consider Suzuka a favourite to race on.
Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz said: “One of my favourite tracks for sure, the narrowness makes it challenging. The fact that if you put a wheel off the track, it’s grass or gravel and penalises the driver.
“Then the feeling of speed that we have here is, I would say, similar to a track like Imola, for example, that the feeling of speed is narrow and it’s crazy, and that’s what gives the driver the thrill.”
Sharing the same sentiment, George Russell said: “I think the undulations as well and the cambered corners make it really nice. I think all the circuits that we have, undulations – Portimão, Austin – that’s really fun to drive. And then corners that they’re banked into the apex, is really nice.
“Some of the circuits we have off-cambered corners, which all drivers hate, and it’s difficult to race. You can’t do different lines. So I think that combination of cambered corners and the ups and downs makes it pretty special.”
Hoping to keep it clean this round, Honda should be wary that Suzuka does not fall to the same fate as Imola or the Nürburgring.
With more fans comes more responsibility, and as motorsport grows in popularity, safety becomes a priority.
