Japan GP: with Suzuka change of date, can only one pit stop be made? 2024 Pirelli race preview

Formula 1 returns to Japan just over six months since its last appearance. This year, for the first time in its history, the Japanese Grand Prix takes place in April: until last year, the race was typically held towards the end, in September or October, often deciding one or both world championships. The last two editions were no exception: in 2022, Verstappen clinched his second championship at Suzuka, and last year Red Bull secured the Constructors’ title.

The fourth race of the season coincides in the Asian country with the peak of the sakura season, the cherry blossoms that bloom from late March to early April. Moreover, it’s not the first time that a race of the top motorsport competition is held in Japan during this time of the year: on April 17, 1994, the first edition of the Pacific Grand Prix was held at the Aida circuit, repeated the following year, not in April but in October. Moving the race to early spring will also bring lower temperatures than teams are accustomed to for this event, as the seasonal average ranges between 8°C and 13°C.

The Suzuka meeting is one of the classics of the season. The 5.807-kilometer track, owned by Honda, is a favorite among drivers because it challenges their skills with its comprehensive layout and is characterized by a unique figure-eight shape, unprecedented in Formula 1 history.

In addition to representing an extraordinary challenge for cars and drivers, the track puts tires under severe stress, both in terms of wear – the asphalt has high levels of roughness and abrasiveness – and in terms of the forces and loads they undergo, considering the different types of corners it comprises. As tradition, Pirelli has selected the hardest trio of compounds available for this track, consisting of the C1 as Hard, the C2 as Medium, and the C3 as Soft. This is, incidentally, the same selection used in Bahrain for the first race of the season.

Usually, the race unfolds with two pit stops, considering the stress the tires undergo and their thermal degradation. However, the potentially lower temperatures compared to the past could be a mitigating factor and thus create conditions, especially for cars and drivers particularly gentle in tire management, to attempt to reach the finish line with just one stop for the mandatory compound change. The downside lies in the greater difficulty that could be encountered in bringing the tires to the right operating temperature, especially after the restart from the pits: this would also diminish the effectiveness of the undercut, usually very useful on this track, especially considering that the preferred compounds for the race are traditionally Hard and Medium.

The date is not the only novelty that characterizes this year’s Japanese trip. Indeed, after the Grand Prix, a two-day testing appendix is planned – Tuesday, April 9, and Wednesday, April 10 – which Pirelli will conduct, with the collaboration of Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber and Visa Cash App RB Formula One Team, to develop constructions and compounds for the upcoming season.

So far, there have been 37 editions of the Japanese Grand Prix, 33 of which were held at Suzuka; the remaining four were hosted at the Fuji circuit, owned by Toyota. The most successful driver is still Michael Schumacher with six wins: the German also leads in the pole position ranking (8) and podium finishes (9). As for the teams, McLaren has the highest number of wins (9), while Ferrari leads in pole positions (10).

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The Suzuka circuit has 18 corners, some of which – like the Spoon, the 130R, and the uphill combination between turns 2 and 7 – are among the most famous on the championship calendar. Less known are the two Degners, named after Ernest Degner, a German motorcycle racer from the 1950s and 1960s, whose story is truly worth telling.

Born in Gleiwitz (Upper Silesia, now in Polish territory) in 1931 and raised in East Germany, Degner was one of the most prominent athletes in the eastern part. He raced with MZ motorcycles, two-stroke bikes designed by Walter Kaaden, a brilliant engineer who, during World War II, had worked for the Nazis at Peenemunde, the secret weapons factory ordered by Adolf Hitler. Thanks to Kaaden’s creativity, the MZ bikes were able to compete and beat not only the established European competition but also the emerging manufacturers, who were beginning to enter the most important competitions in the West.

In 1960, for example, Suzuki had entered its first racing motorcycle, but it was dramatically slow, finishing the 1960 Isle of Man TT 125 a staggering 15 minutes behind the winner. It was clear that the Japanese urgently needed know-how, but where to find it? The answer came in the form of a chance encounter the following year between Degner and the Japanese company, attended by President Shunzo Suzuki. During the conversation, the German rider expressed his weariness with his dull life in East Germany, as the rest of the world was starting to emerge from post-war austerity: he was burdened by the surveillance of Stasi agents, the secret police, who followed him to every race (they were so concerned he might escape that his family wasn’t allowed to attend races, so he would always have a reason to return home). Obviously, he also hated the fact that many of his fellow drivers – with less talent – were paid a fortune compared to him, who had to settle for a salary practically equal to that of any other MZ worker. An agreement was reached: Degner would defect, help Suzuki develop motorcycles, and then race for the Japanese. But he wouldn’t leave the GDR without his family, and with the Berlin Wall just erected, getting them out would be nearly impossible. So, at the 1961 Swedish Grand Prix held in Kristianstad, Degner arranged with the help of a friend from West Germany – who made frequent business trips to East Berlin – the escape of his wife and children, hiding them in a secret compartment in the trunk of a Lincoln Mercury. Degner’s plan relied on the fact that the Stasi devoted more time to surveilling him on tracks abroad than his family at home: he was right. Degner, who retired from the race due to an engine failure, fled to West Germany to reunite with his family before eventually moving to Hamamatsu, where Suzuki’s headquarters were located. One of MZ’s first reactions was the immediate cancellation of the overseas racing program, in case other riders or technicians got the idea to follow Degner’s example…

Degner raced in the 1962 season with a Suzuki: he constantly feared being killed by the Stasi but still managed to win the first world championship title in the 50 cc class. From the following year, however, the fairy tale began to turn into a nightmare. In the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka, he fell off his bike at what is now known as Degner Curves, and when the fuel tank exploded, he suffered severe burns requiring over 50 skin grafts. Other accidents plagued his return to racing until his final retirement in 1966.

Living with suffering led him to slip into morphine addiction: when death suddenly struck him in 1983, while living in Tenerife (Spain), many thought he had fallen victim to an overdose, but at the same time, fanciful theories emerged suggesting he was a victim of a delayed Stasi vendetta. In his memory and as a thank you for his contribution to the history of Japanese motorcycle racing, turns 8 and 9 of the Suzuka track were named after him.

MINIMUM PRESSURES AT START (slick)
25.0 psi (front)
23.0 psi (rear)

EOS CAMBER LIMIT
-2.75° (front)
-1.50° (rear)

Ferrari Pirelli tires