Sure it appears that all his bad luck for the season happened in China, but consider: It was inevitable that his luck could not hold out forever but is it not lucky that he gets his share of bad luck when it has no effect on either his or Ferrari's chances of winning this year's championship? Yes it was bad luck but is was bad luck at the luckiest of times.

The race was interesting and highlighted that although McLaren, BAR and Williams are getting more competitive towards the end of the season, they are still not really in a position to challenge Ferrari. Rubens never looked threatened and I suspect that he could have increased his pace if needed.

The venue was spectacular, a worthy addition to the season. My very high hopes that overtaking would be easier on this circuit were a little dashed. Too many of the corners are just too complex to contemplate going off the racing line, but at least we saw some overtaking.

Jenson Button (BAR) and Kimi Raikkonen (McLaren), on the other hand were driving the wheels off their cars in a fight for second place that lasted to the last lap. These teams now seem evenly matched, a far cry from the BAR of yesteryear, indicating that we will see a very motivated and determined Honda effort next year.

BAR may not be so far ahead of Renault in the constructors' championship to take it easy but it does not look as if Renault have the pace to threaten them on the faster tracks, so, barring bad luck, they should be safe. McLaren seems to be the only team that are consistently fast enough to worry them but they can't catch them in the Championship.

Suzuka (track layout) is quite hard on tyres but easy on brakes. Setup is a compromise between downforce required for the slower twisty sections and the lowest possible drag for the faster sections.

The first corner is a fast right hairpin 150km/H (93mph), which for some reason is broken up as turn 1 and 2. It is a reasonable distance from the start so hopefully the mayhem of the first seconds will be sorted out by the time they get there.

Turns 3 to 10 are all relatively fast (well over 130km/H or 80mph) but the hairpin (turn 11) is super slow, 65km/H (40mph). To get through turns 1 to 10 fast demands that the car has substantial downforce.

After 11 we get to the faster part of the circuit. 12 is a long right handed sweep where some of the cars will exceed 300km/H (184mph) before braking to just under 200km/H (125mph) for turn 13 (also called The Spoon). From here it is virtually flat out all the way to Casio (which is a cross between an S-bend and a chicane) where they will be under 100km/H (62mph) before accelerating into the straight round a very fast right curve.

Because of the curve leading onto the straight, which will be exited at 250km/H (165mph) or better I do not think that we will see much overtaking on the straight. The leading car will have better aerodynamic grip and the straight is too short to catch up and overtake.

The approach to the Hairpin and the long fast run to Casio are more likely where overtaking will happen..

With modern aerodynamics there is virtually no substitute for horsepower on almost all current circuits. Suzuka is no exception. By the time you have enough downforce to get through the twisty bits fast you need an awful number of horses to overcome the drag to be fast on the second half of the circuit.

Setup is crucial here and even some of the leading teams may not get it right as track temperatures can not be accurately predicted, and we have seen that this can have a profound effect on tyre choice.

Ferrari: Not much can be said about this team that I have not said before. This is their season. Their cars are reliable and fast. They have the most successful driver ever driving for them and Rubens has demonstrated that he can deliver when needed.

BAR: This has certainly been their best season and they seem to be getting better all the time.
Honda will certainly want to look good in Japan and there is really no reason why they should not.
Jenson Button is very fast and looks comfortable in the car and Sato is doing very well too.

McLaren: Why is it that for as long as I can remember, McLaren seem to only realise the potential of their cars close to the end of a season?
They could be very strong in Japan. Raikkonen is very fast and very motivated. Coulthard on the other hand is not that fast and seems to have lost the need to finish on the podium.

Renault: The Renault engine has just not delivered this season. This is not really surprising as it is relatively new and still not fully developed.
Alonso is a great driver and if they can improve the car for Suzuka, he has to be their best chance of taking back second place in the championship from BAR. This is a tall order as Honda will be pulling out all the stops to look good in Japan.
Villeneuve probably needs another two or three races to settle down and feel totally comfortable in the car. He is less likely to do well but you never know with Villeneuve. He could change the colour of his hair and that could be all that is needed to get him there.

Williams: This is a troubled team. Their launch control is mediocre at best and almost guaranteed to lose them at least one place at the start of the race.
Montoya drives as if there is no tomorrow and will probably always drive like that. The problem is that if his car has a weakness he will discover it before the end of the race, often ending the race for him at the time.
Ralf is less harsh on his car but lacks the flair of Montoya. He seems to only be fast sporadically and this will never land him a season.

Sauber: Like McLaren they seem to be getting better towards the end of the season, which can only be because they are finally getting the chassis right as the Ferrari engine is theoretically the same as the ones used by the Ferrari team.
Fisichella is one of the veterans of the circuit. There was a time that he showed real promise but lately he has not driven a car fast enough to asses if he still has what it takes. Maybe next season.
Massa shows a glimmer of brilliance on occasion but, like Fisichella, has never had the equipment to exploit this.

Jaguar: Well, I guess the team will do their best and the drivers will too, but with the cloud of being sold or worse hanging over their heads I do not expect much.

Jordan: I do not know why they are still trying. The future looks grim and even if they can survive for another season it is unlikely that they will have the funds to be anything other than pedestrian.
It must be dedicated effort to an activity they really enjoy but I struggle to understand how someone like Eddie Jordan can accept where he is today considering that this team was at one stage among the top teams. I admire his tenacity.

Toyota: Too little, too slow. If Toyota keeps on improving at the rate they have displayed over the last two seasons, they could be racing Minardi for last place by the end of next year.
I had such high hopes for this team. They have had a huge budget, and, yes, a huge task. Building both chassis and engine from scratch must be hard but Ferrari and Renault are doing it and moving forward. Compared to Honda they are going backwards.

Minardi: Well, someone has to finish last.

The politics and greed of Formula One continues. Tradition matters less and less as the huge financially rewarding engine moves towards where the most money is. Fans and their loyalty are ignored, tradition is thrown to the wind and the mighty dollar decides where races are held.

Taking the British Grand Prix out of the calendar is heresy (I know: a tough statement to take from The Heretic). This is as much part of Formula One as Monaco. Most of the cars and engines are built in the UK. I do not understand why it is even an option.

Bernie, how much more money do you want?
Max, with all the other crap going on how much more do you want to put Formula 1 at risk?

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