Grand Prix 2015 Japanese Grand Prix Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

For once the PQR does not include discussion of the dominance of Mercedes after they dropped the ball under the lights in Singapore. They'll feel better than South Africa's rugby fraternity, and will certainly be less likely to wince at the sound of the word "Japan". Will they bounce back?

The excitement of Suzuka is palpable. Some corners are legendary - the esses, 130R, the Degners. Those that aren't are merely the venue for legendary happenings - the McLarens in 1989, Kobayashi-san's wide elbows and Raikkonen passing Fisi on the last lap. However, it is an excitement tempered by what happened last time, and I'm sure thoughts of Jules Bianchi will be uppermost as the weekend continues.

Ferrari will be praying that the race again shows the improvement that saw them challenge at Monza and dominate at Singapore, and Vettel will scarcely be put off by seeing the road into Suzuka. He's won at Malaysia and Singapore, the third leg of his once-customary East Asian triple crown awaits. Red Bull, of course, will also have great memories, and they will be encouraged by getting amongst the Ferraris for the first time in Singapore. That they were ahead of the Mercedes is a massive bonus.

Action can never be guaranteed, but if it doesn't come, you can at least enjoy the spectacle of 22 drivers dragging reluctant cars through some of the most splendid curves in the world, all flowing into one outstanding whole. A Ferrari victory would pay tribute to their lost son, or is it Hamilton's turn to get to the magic 41? Or, just possibly, a surprise?
 
Having watched F1 in the eraly 2000's when all you saw was Michael Schumacher going serenley about his business I can understand why FOM don't bother to show the leading car.
 
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We've seen it before on previous japanese Grand Prix though, they do have a tendency to show a disproportionate amount of coverage of japanese drivers and manufacturers. There are no japanese drivers on the current grid so they just filled the screen with McLaren-Hondas at every opportunity but I remember in the early days of Senna, Prost and Mansell they just kept focusing on Nakajima half the time!
 
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