|
The C1, the
hardest compound of the 2025 range, makes its season debut at this the third
round, joined as usual by the C2 and the C3. That’s because Suzuka is one of
the toughest tracks on the calendar when it comes to tyres and Pirelli has
therefore always selected the hardest trio of compounds.
Something
new for this year is the fact that a large part of the track has been
resurfaced, from the exit of the last chicane to the end of the first
sector. This is an important section, as it features medium and high speed
corners, some of them long ones, such as the first two after the
start-finish straight, where tyres come under a lot of stress.
Pirelli also has something new to offer this weekend. On the Suzuka podium,
as was also the case in Melbourne and Shanghai, the drivers will wear a
special edition Podium Cap, designed by Denis Dekovic and taking its
inspiration from the culture of the Land of the Rising Sun. The cap is part
of a collection produced by Pirelli Design, consisting of 14 different
versions out of the 24 Grands Prix on the calendar and is on sale on a
dedicated e-commerce platform (https://store.pirelli.com).
The compounds
As already mentioned, for Suzuka, the three hardest compounds in the range
will be available. It is worth noting that, of the three, the C1 is the one
that most closely resembles its 2024 iteration, while the C2 especially and
the C3, have undergone the most changes in terms of performance, being
softer than last year. Therefore, it will be interesting to see how the
teams will manage their tyre allocation over the course of the three free
practice sessions as they try to establish the best-set up for their cars,
with a focus on race strategy.
Pre-event simulations, carried out
using data supplied by the teams, suggests that lap times will come down
thanks to the combined effect of the additional grip from the new surface
and the increase in performance from the 2025 cars, which is reckoned will
be around the one and a half seconds mark. That figure will be checked right
from Friday during the first two hours of track activity. Also based on data
from the teams, the Pirelli engineers have slightly modified the required
minimum start pressures across both axles, with the front coming down by a
half psi from 25 to 24.5 and the rear increasing by the same amount from 23
to 23.5. As always, Friday’s data will be analysed immediately, to check the
correlation between the simulation and the actual figures, before making any
necessary adjustments. It will be important to check if, as was the case in
China for the second round, the new track surface will have a very
significant effect on performance and also how quickly the track will
evolve, given that Suzuka is one of the busiest circuits on the calendar,
having already hosted two major events so far this year.
In 2024
In 2024, the race was won by Max Verstappen, followed home by Red Bull
team-mate Sergio Perez and the then Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz. The field
was split pretty fairly evenly between the Medium and Soft for the first
stint, with 12 choosing the C2 and eight the C3. But race strategy was then
influenced by the race being red flagged following a collision between Albon
and Ricciardo, with seven drivers changing compounds for the restart off the
grid. There was quite a difference in strategy choices, both in terms of the
number of stops, with the two-stopper nevertheless proving the most popular,
and the order in which the compounds were used. In the end, the C1 did the
most laps (61% of the total) ahead of the Medium (31%) and the Soft only
doing a short first or final stint, as its performance drop was quite
significant.
Worth noting that, tarting on the Medium and making only
one change to Hard, Charles Leclerc managed to make up four places from his
grid position, to finish eighth. This year with what is on paper a big
performance differential between the compounds, a one-stop could prove more
complicated, although one must wait and see what influence the newly
surfaced part of the track might have, as well as what the temperatures will
be this weekend.
The track
The Suzuka track is one of the most spectacular and demanding on the
calendar, as well as being the only circuit of the season with a
figure-of-eight layout. Located in the Mie Prefecture, the venue is owned by
Honda whose Suzuka factory, built in 1960 is one of its main sites in Japan.
The track is regarded as being demanding for both car and driver. 5.807
kilometres in length, it is made up of 18 corners, some of which are part of
motor racing history, such as the Esses in the first sector and the
legendary 130R and it has remained pretty much unchanged over the years.
Apart from the aforementioned changes to the track surface, there are
other minor modifications compared to last year, with kerbs and grass
run-off areas having been changed. The most significant of these is at turn
9, where the single kerb has been replaced by a higher double kerb, while
the synthetic grass on the outside of turns 2,7,9,14 and 17 has been
replaced with gravel.
Keyword: forces
Why type of forces are exerted on a
tyre in an extreme form of motor racing like Formula 1? The tyres are
subjected to several complex forces that have a direct influence on their
performance and life. The main forces that act on the only point of contact
between the car and the track are vertical, lateral and longitudinal. The
first are a result of the weight of the car and the aerodynamic downforce
generated by the wings and the floor. The lateral ones are generated while a
car is cornering, when the weight is transferred towards the outside of the
corner, generating lateral forces that increase as a function of the speed
at which it is taken. These can reach 4G, thus stressing the tyres.
Acceleration and heavy braking, typical of tracks with low radius corners at
the end of long straights, can exert longitudinal forces on the tyres that
can reach up to 5G.
Suzuka is one of the most demanding tracks for
tyres, especially in terms of the lateral forces to which they are
subjected. On the scale used by Pirelli to rate the tracks, Suzuka, along
with Barcelona, Silverstone, Spa, Zandvoort and Lusail, is a 5, the highest
rating.
Statistics Corner
The land of cherry
blossom, known in Japanese as “Sakura,” has hosted 40 Formula 1 World
Championship Grands Prix to date. The first was held in 1976 and a total of
three different circuits have been home to races. In 1994 and 1995, the Aida
circuit hosted what was known as the Pacific Grand Prix. There have been 38
editions of the actual Japanese Grand Prix, with four of them (1976, 1977,
2007 and 2008) run at Fuji, while the remaining 34 have all been run at
Suzuka, the first of these in 1987.
Michael Schumacher has the best
record in Japan. The seven-time world champion took six wins at Suzuka – one
with Benetton, the rest with Ferrari – and also won both Aida races, again
with Benetton. Lewis Hamilton, who shares Schumacher’s record for the number
of world titles, is second on the Japanese list, with five wins, one at Fuji
and four at Suzuka. Of the teams, McLaren tops the chart with nine wins,
followed by Ferrari and Red Bull, equal second with seven. Schumacher also
heads the list for pole positions with eight and Ferrari is the most
successful team in this regard with ten.
The Japanese Grand Prix’s
move to an early date in the calendar has robbed the event of the chance to
decide the outcome of the drivers’ world championship. Up until 2023, the
matter was settled here no fewer than 14 times. Ayrton Senna clinched all
three of his crowns at Suzuka, in 1998, 1990 and 1991, Schumacher won one in
Aida in 1995 and two at Suzuka in 2003 and 2003, and Mika Hakkinen won his
two titles in Suzuka in 1998 and 1999. Others to get their hands on the
championship in Japan were James Hunt (1976), Nelson Piquet (1987), Alain
Prost (1989), Damon Hill (1996), Sebastian Vettel (2011) and Max Verstappen
(2022). |
