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Schedule

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Free Practice 1
Free Practice 2
Free Practice 3
Qualifying
Race
Free Practice 1
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Free Practice 2
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Free Practice 3
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Qualifying
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Race
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The Circuit

When making a list of the most unique racetracks in the world, it is hard to look past Suzuka, home of the Japanese Grand Prix and third round of the 2025 Formula One World Championship.

Having traditionally been held towards the end of the season, the event moved to April for 2024, and round three is the earliest the race has ever appeared in an F1 championship schedule.

While that might remove some of the end-of-season drama, aesthetically the F1 paddock is in for a treat, with the beautiful cherry blossom season in full flow by the time F1 rolls into town.

This will be the 39th Japanese Grand Prix, and all previous editions apart from four (1976-1977 and 2007-2008) have been held at Suzuka. The others took place at the Fuji International Speedway, which hosted the F1 season finale in 1976 and 1977.

  • First GP
    1987
  • Circuit Length
    5.807km
  • Race Distance
    307.771km
  • Laps
    53

F1’s first visit to Suzuka came in 1987. It was then, and remains now, the only circuit on our sport’s rota to be run on a figure-of-eight layout.

Some of Formula One’s most recognisable corners make up the 5.8km lap, including the Degner Curves, Spoon Curve, and 130R – a 300km/h+ left-hander towards the end of the lap.

The sweeping right-hander at Turn One will see a driver experience some of the highest G-Forces on the calendar at 4.8.

Scenes in Suzuka

Suzuka in the hybrid era was the scene of plenty of success for our team. Between 2014 and 2019, Mercedes claimed every single race victory and five out of six pole positions at the track.

Nico, Lewis, and Valtteri all reached the top step of the podium in that run, and the latter’s victory in 2019 tied Ferrari’s record for six consecutive Constructors’ Championships for the Silver Arrows.

Mercedes-Benz power has triumphed nine times at Suzuka. In 2005, Kimi Raikkonen’s McLaren-Mercedes famously surged through the field from P18 on the grid to claim victory, passing Giancarlo Fisichella’s Renault at the start of the final lap.

Crowning Champions

Iconic corners, iconic moments. Suzuka has hosted the season finale on six occasions and crowned numerous world champions.

In fact, the first five visits to Suzuka saw five world title battles decided, with Nelson Piquet, Alain Prost, and Ayrton Senna all claiming F1’s ultimate prize in Japan. Damon Hill’s victory in 1996 gave the Briton his first World Championship, while Mika Hakkinen sealed his two titles at Suzuka in 1998 and 1999.

In 2000, Michael Schumacher ended Ferrari’s 21-year wait for championship glory at the Japanese Grand Prix.

He would claim a record-breaking sixth F1 title at the track in 2003 with the Scuderia, while compatriot Sebastian Vettel won his second world title in Japan in 2011.

In 2022, Max Verstappen won his second championship after a shortened, rain-affected race at Suzuka.

Weather Watch

Plenty of inclement weather has impacted the Japanese Grand Prix over the years, most notably in 2019 when a typhoon on Saturday caused Qualifying to be cancelled.

The 2022 edition of the race was shortened significantly because of heavy rainfall, and the Grand Prix weekend is not immune to interchangeable conditions.

Five of the past 25 sessions heading in 2025 have featured rain, so whatever the time of year, it’s always worth keeping an eye on those Suzuka skies.