Suzuka top 10 moments

Suzuka is one of Formula 1's jewels in the crown, and it's little wonder that the Japanese circuit has provided the sport with some of its all-time highlights. Edd Straw picks the top 10 moments from the track's time in the world championship

Suzuka is regarded as one of the greatest challenges for drivers in Formula 1 and has produced some of the most dramatic moments in grand prix racing since hosting its first world championship race back in 1987.

From the Ayrton Senna v Alain Prost battles of 1988-90 to great home performances to sensational title denouements, Suzuka has rarely disappointed.

AUTOSPORT picks out 10 of the great Suzuka moments to cherish.

10. Sato's return (2003)

Takuma Sato's F1 career looked like it might never recover from his debut season with Jordan in 2002, when perception of him was clouded by several incidents early in the season.

BAR appointed him as its test driver and, with Jacques Villeneuve on his way out of the team for '04, it decided to give Sato a racing return in his home grand prix at the end of the '03 season. He did not disappoint the home crowd.

He qualified a solid 13th, but it was in the race that he gave his fans plenty to cheer about, climbing to finish sixth and claim three points on his debut for the team; surviving a clash with Michael Schumacher on the way. It also proved that his promotion to a race seat at the expense of former champion Villeneuve was not as absurd as some critics had suggested.

9. Hill's wet triumph (1994)

Damon Hill was five points behind Benetton driver Michael Schumacher in the world championship at the start of the race. With both on the front row the stage was set for a dramatic duel, but few would have envisaged just how dramatic.

The race started in terrible conditions, with torrential rain that forced officials to wave the red flags after just 13 laps. By then 11 cars were out of the race and McLaren driver Martin Brundle had aquaplaned off the track and broken a marshal's leg.

The race would be decided on aggregate times, meaning that Schumacher was just under seven seconds ahead at the restart.

Pitstop strategy played a key part. Schumacher opted for a two-stopper, coming in on lap 18. Hill stopped only once, on lap 25, so when the Benetton driver stopped for a second time it handed the lead back to Hill.

Schumacher was just under 15s behind with nine laps to go. He started to close the gap, but Hill, knowing that he was in no position to defend thanks to the aggregate times, held on to win by 3.365s and set up a memorable title decider

8. Senna passes Prost for the title (1988)

Often forgotten in Senna v Alain Prost Suzuka folklore is the 1988 race, in which the former clinched his first world title.

With dropped scores taken into account, Senna knew that a win would be enough to wrap up the title with a round to spare. But after taking pole position, it seemed that the title would go down to the wire when he stalled on the line.

Fortunately for the Brazilian, he was able to use the incline on the start / finish straight to bump-start the car and he finished the first lap in eighth. He set about climbing the order and on lap 27 he was right with his McLaren team -mate Prost. The Frenchman lost ground in traffic and, as they started the 28th lap, Senna squeezed up the inside into the first corner to take the lead and the title.

7. Schumacher ends Ferrari drought (2000)

It had been 21 years since a Ferrari driver last won the drivers' championship when Michael Schumacher headed to Suzuka in 2000 for the penultimate round of the season. Unwilling to leave anything to chance, he and the team headed east with no intention of leaving empty handed.

Schumacher claimed pole position by the tiniest of margins, pipping title rival Mika Hakkinen by just 0.009s.

It was close in the race too but, under constant pressure, Schumacher held firm to win by just under 2s and relieve Jody Scheckter of his two-decade burden of being Ferrari's last world champion.

6. Eddie Irvine's point and punch (1993)

When Eddie Irvine became the fifth driver of the season to partner Rubens Barrichello at Jordan, few expected the impact that he would make on his F1 debut at Suzuka. The team had scored no points in 1993, but Barrichello led Irvine home in fifth and sixth - and the Northern Irishman celebrated by being punched by Ayrton Senna post-race!

His circuit knowledge helped during a dry / wet / dry race and he was able to battle with Williams driver Damon Hill. During that battle he unlapped himself shortly after being passed by race leader Senna's McLaren, which led to his now infamous post-race altercation with the Brazilian.

Late in the race, Irvine Derek Warwick's Footwork tapped into the Gravel , which he blamed on his having Dirt on Tyres.

5. Mansell's crash (1987)

Nigel Mansell headed to the 1987 Japanese GP, the first at Suzuka, 12 points behind his Williams-Honda team-mate Nelson Piquet with two races remaining. He was an outsider for the championship, but any hopes that he had of making up for ' 86, when a puncture at Adelaide cruelly denied him, were shattered by his huge accident in Friday qualifying.

The car was launched, spinning, into the AIR When it hit the ground, he suffered a Back injury that kept him out of both the Japanese and Australian GPs, handing the World Championship to his Team-Mate.

4. Japan's first podium (1990)

Satoru Nakajima had become Japan's first world championship regular in 1987, but it was the nation's second full-time F1 competitor, Aguri Suzuki, who was the first to stand on the podium. Appropriately enough, it was at Suzuka in 1990 where the 30 - year-old Suzuki claimed that landmark third place.

It was something of a surprise result too. The Larrousse-entered Lola-Lamborghini was a good, solid mid-grid car in which Suzuki regularly qualified in the teens. He had already picked up a couple of points before heading to Suzuka where he qualified an impressive ninth, matching his previous best.

Attrition played its part, with only 10 cars finishing and just three of those who started ahead of Suzuki making the finish, partly thanks to Ayrton Senna bulldozing title rival Alain Prost off the track at the first corner. But Suzuki turned in a very accomplished drive , never running lower than eighth and moving up to third behind the Benettons of Nelson Piquet and Roberto Moreno when Riccardo Patrese had to pit for new tyres with 17 laps to go.

3. Prost takes out Senna (1989)

Lap 46 of the 1989 Japanese GP. It's Senna v Prost again and, just as during the previous year's race, the Brazilian knows that he needs to overtake the Frenchman to take the title down to the wire in Australia.

He has a fast run through 130R and sees his chance into the chicane, Diving up the Inside. Prost is having none of it, Turning in on Senna. The pair lock Wheels and both are seemingly out.

But as Prost gets out of his car, Senna implores the marshals for assistance and rejoins, pitting for a new front wing. He then reels in Benetton driver Alessandro Nannini, passing him for what appears to be an amazing victory.

Post-race, Senna is disqualified (he's not even allowed on the podium) for missing the chicane, handing Prost the championship.

2. Senna takes out Prost

It's one of the most enduring images in grand prix history. The red Ferrari of Prost jumps ahead of Senna at the start and the red-and-white McLaren ploughs into him at the ultra-fast Turn 1 right-hander. Fly into both the run-off , sending up clouds of Dust. Senna is champion.

There's no doubt that the Brazilian did it deliberately, a move that he rationalised based upon Prost turning in on him at the chicane a year earlier - as well as the moving of Senna's pole slot to a disadvantageous position - and it is a moment immortalised in the recent Senna documentary movie

1. Raikkonen's last-lap pass (2005)

A scrambled grid, courtesy of rain in qualifying, set the scene for what is rightly hailed as one of the great grands prix in world championship history. The star was McLaren driver Kimi Raikkonen, who started down in 17th place.

At the end of the first lap he was up to 12th, and as the race went on he rapidly climbed the order. With seven laps to go, once the pitstops had all shaken out, Raikkonen was 5.470s behind Renault driver Giancarlo Fisichella.

The next lap, the gap was down to 4.315s, then 3.078s, then 1.808s and then, with three laps left, 0.510s. Fisichella started defending and looked like he might just hold Raikkonen off.

The Italian defended going into the chicane on the penultimate lap, compromising his exit onto the start-finish straight. Raikkonen had a run on him, Fisichella defended into the ultra-fast Turn 1 and the McLaren man swooped around the outside to take a sensational win.

source: autosport