2023 Japanese Grand Prix: Fast Facts

For all of us down here in the southern hemisphere, Suzuka is one of our favourite race weekends.

Not only is the racing usually unpredictable, but with the action kicking off in the middle of the afternoon, we can get an early night and wake up on Monday as fresh as a daisy!

It doesn’t happen often, so let us have our moment…

We’ve put together some ‘fast facts’ to get you up to speed ahead of the racing in Suzuka, plus you can hear from home town hero Yuki Tsunoda, champion-elect Max Verstappen, and everyone’s favourite Team Principal, Toto Wolff:

Tyres are critical at the Japanese Grand Prix, did you know Suzuka has one of the highest levels of roughness and abrasion on the calendar?

Well now you do.

Learn more about the selected tyres for this weekend here:

Finally, Alfa Romeo emailed out this ode to the Japanese Grand Prix, and I thought it was too awesome not to share. Here it is, reproduced in full:

Big in Japan

The grandstands are full: fans, donning shirts and caps of all teams on the grid, cheer and clap. A choreography starts going; flags wave in the air. It’s a scene that could be lifted from any Grand Prix footage, anywhere in the world: but there’s something that makes it uniquely Suzuka. It’s not the funny hats sported by some fans – working DRSs, full cars, papier-maché helmets; it’s not those who turned up in full fireproof suit, replicas so detailed they could fool an expert’s eye. It’s something different – something that would not happen at any other track but happens each year here in Japan.

It’s late on Thursday night.

The sun has long set, the grandstands are sunken in darkness, the faint light of mobile phones and the bright colours of countless lightsticks the only visible thing, a dance of a thousands fireflies in the night shadows. And the only action in front of the grandstand, the only activity prompting this cheering and applause, is mechanics pushing their cars to scrutineering.

If there’s anything that shows the devotion, the passion, the commitment towards Formula One of the Japanese fans, those scenes on Thursday night shall be it. It’s respect, deeply ingrained, not just for the superstars of our sport, the drivers, team principals and legends of the paddock; but for each and every team member, the hundreds of guys and girls who make racing possible, those in the garage, the hospitality units, the kitchens.

Each team members gets applause when driving through the circuit gates; each gets greeted on the way out, late at night. There are respectful bows, handshakes, waves: countless “I remember you from last year” and “thank you for your work”.

The biggest debt of gratitude, however, is owed to the fans. They make us feel special, they make us feel loved, they fill us to the brim with motivation: we have come to the other end of the world, and they make us feel at home. So, as we prepare to meet these fans again, we say thank you for your passion, thank you for your support – thank you for making us Big in Japan.

Enjoy the racing,

Jarrod - F1 Chronicle Editor