Rain and fog aside, although such weather was expected, Formula One’s return to Fuji Speedway for the first time since 1977 went pretty well. The new pit garage, hospitality and media facilities are excellent, and the drivers found the revised track to be more difficult and enjoyable than anticipated.
Mount Fuji, peaking at 12,338 feet, provides a dramatic backdrop to the circuit, which is at an altitude of about 1,800 feet.
Fog, clouds and mist, however, shrouded the mountain all but Friday morning.
The fog grounded the medical helicopter Saturday morning and delayed practice by 30 minutes. Cars then got out on the track for only four minutes before it got too foggy again and the session was abandoned.
For qualifying and the race, a helicopter was positioned partway down the mountain where visibility was better. A road was closed off, meaning that an injured driver could be transported to the chopper or the local hospital by ambulance in just a few minutes.
It’s too early for the peak to be covered in snow, and the joke going around the paddock was that circuit- owner Toyota would bring in artificial snowmaking machines so that the mountain could look like it does on the postcards.
Access to the circuit is a serious problem with just a few, winding, narrow roads leading to the track. No spectators were allowed to drive to the circuit, and over 3,000 buses were used in a park-and-ride system to shuttle the fans to the track.
Hundreds of traffic wardens were scattered at intersections on many roads in all directions (some many miles away from the track) to direct traffic along a series of designated routes.
Worries about the access, plus higher ticket prices, meant that tickets didn’t quite sell out like they did at Suzuka. Still, 90,000 people showed up Saturday and 140,000 on Sunday, and they stoically endured the miserable wet conditions and long waits in traffic.
Just what traffic nightmares awaited everybody after the race I can’t tell you about because I am writing this and filing it from the press room before I leave the track late Sunday night.
At just under one mile, Fuji’s straight is the longest on the F-1 tour and basically the only thing that remains from the old track because, while the basic layout looks the same, the section from turn one to the final turn 16 is completely different.
The final series of turns from 10 to 16 is very squiggly and contains a silly chicane that had to be put in otherwise the F-1 cars would have lapped the track in 58 seconds.
“It is not so easy in the infield, as there are so many trick corners,” Ferrari’s Felipe Massa said. “It is difficult to find the right stability for the car. It is also difficult to find the right downforce because you need a good speed on the straight as well.”
Setting up was indeed tricky because higher downforce meant a faster lap time but added danger of being passed on the straight. But low downforce wasn’t ideal for a wet, slippery track.
All in all, while Fuji was better than expected, Suzuka, especially that it is now updating its facilities, is a better venue.
The good news is that we will be going back to Suzuka in 2009, and after that the two circuits will alternate hosting the Japanese Grand Prix.