© Richard Pardon for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd.
In Mercedes’ Japanese Grand Prix preview, Toto Wolff says the team’s “the W16 has proved a stable and consistent platform so far, and a car that the drivers feel confident in”.
“We will be aiming to build on our solid start to the season in the upcoming triple-header,” Wolff said.
“The W16 has proved a stable and consistent platform so far, and a car that the drivers feel confident in. That led to good performances in Australia and China, and our best start to a season since 2021.
“We know we have more performance to find if we are to challenge at the very front race though. Development isn’t the work of a moment either.
“The races in Japan, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia will therefore be about maximising what we have right now. Our competitors will undoubtedly bounce back from the recent double-header, too.
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“Therefore, we will need to be at our best if we want to continue our promising start. Suzuka, with its fast sweeps and elevation change provide a proper test for both driver and car.
“This will be Kimi’s first experience there and, whilst it will be another new challenge for him, he will be looking forward to it. He has handled everything thrown at him so far, and we’re looking forward to seeing his continued development.
“George meanwhile has enjoyed his strongest start to a season in his F1 career. He has delivered with maturity, consistency, and speed. He is performing exactly how we knew he would as the senior driver of the works Mercedes team.
“He will be looking to continue in that form in Japan this weekend,” the Austrian concluded.
Fact File: Japanese Grand Prix
- Suzuka holds the distinction of being the only circuit we race at that is laid out in a figure-of-eight configuration.
- After the Degner Curves, the circuit passes under the straight leading to 130R. Owing to this, it’s the only F1 track that runs both clockwise and anticlockwise.
- This figure-of-eight layout is beneficial for tyre wear. It creates a more even balance between left and right-hand corners (10 being right-handers and eight to the left), distributing load more equally between tyres.
- The first corner doesn’t require any braking on entry. In Qualifying, drivers don’t hit the brakes until the car is cornering at close to 5G.
- That helps to generate some of the highest steering wheel torques of the entire season.
- The vast majority of the first sector at Suzuka is spent cornering. From Turn 1 until the exit of Turn 7, the steering wheel is moving almost continuously for nearly 2km of the lap.
- For 2025, parts of the track between Turn 1 until entry Turn 8 have been resurfaced.
- Just 1.2 km of the lap is spent driving in a straight line. Most of the 5.807 kms sees some lateral g-force going through the car.
- The lack of straights also means that Suzuka is just one of four circuits on the calendar that has a solitary DRS zone, between Turn 18 and Turn One.
- 130R is one of F1’s quickest corners, taken at 295 km/h. Turn 11 meanwhile is one of the slowest at 60 km/h.
- The braking zone for Turn 11 is particularly challenging. Drivers must hit the brakes midway through the fast Turn 10. They are cornering at close to 3.5G while turning right before the hairpin left. Lockups are therefore common.
- Suzuka has one of the highest mass sensitivities of the season. That means that carrying more fuel is more penalising in terms of lap time and performance.
- Suzuka has hosted the F1 season finale on six occasions, and up until 2022 appeared in the latter stages of the F1 calendar.
- For the past two seasons, the race has taken place in April, in the middle of the famous Japanese cherry blossom season.
- All six of Mercedes’ wins in Japan came in consecutive seasons between 2014 and 2019.
- Mercedes clinched a record-equalling sixth consecutive Constructors’ title at Suzuka in 2019.
Source: Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team
