JAPANESE GP PREVIEW
There is a strong chance that Formula 1 will finally get back to doing what it does best in Japan this weekend.
McLaren?s decision to draw a line under the ?Spygate? affair and swallow the penalties meted out to it by the World Motor Sport Council means we should now be able to shift focus back to the on-track action.
It?s been depressingly ironic that in the season that has attracted so many new viewers to the sport, the absorbing title battle that everyone wants has been dwarfed, in the last two races especially, by the fallout from a Paris courtroom.
But now as we head into the season?s final sprint, that, thankfully, should no longer be the case.
Indeed the stage is perfectly set going into the final three flyaways for a climax to the season befitting what has proved to be an undoubtedly classic championship campaign.
It?s worth remembering, too, that Lewis Hamilton has led or co-led the championship since the third round in Bahrain.
But he heads to Fuji, for perhaps the first time this season, under pressure to deliver something special.
Of course that expectation comes from the astronomically high standards he has set himself in his rookie year.
Yet the Briton himself admitted following his fourth place at Spa that he needed to go away and find some answers to his disappointing speed before the next round.
For although neither McLaren driver could do anything about the runaway Ferraris in Belgium, it was Fernando Alonso who once again extracted the most from the MP4-22.
It?s a trend that (with one or two exceptions) has steadily become the norm since Silverstone in July and has resulted in Hamilton?s once comfortable title advantage being eroded to an edgy two points.
And in the frame of mind Alonso has become ever more cocooned in, there is the ominous sense that the world champion is ready to establish his authority once again.
Moreover, as the WMSC transcripts published last week highlighted, he is not even letting the breakdown of his relationship with McLaren distract him from the job in hand.
While the 196 pages of court room dilations were enlightening, perhaps the most astonishing revelation came from McLaren boss Ron Dennis on the state of his relationship with the Spaniard.
While it was no real surprise to hear that the two had not been on speaking terms since the team?s Hungarian qualifying debacle, to hear Alonso described as a ?remarkable recluse? who does ?not speak to anyone much? was a revelation.
The sense of injustice the world champion feels at not being granted a higher status than his rookie rival has swelled over the past month, to a point where he appears on a single-minded crusade to win a third straight world crown.
This sense of purpose, combined with his greater experience, means these are dangerous times for Lewis?s title dreams.
It certainly puts an extra premium on him beating the Spaniard again this weekend.
But of all the three circuits to come, this may be his best chance of doing it given the amount of time the Fuji Speedway has spent on the F1 sidelines.
Thirty years on from its last F1 outing, the Japanese venue has undergone a radical revamp in recent years and is virtually an unknown circuit for teams and drivers.
Only a handful of racers have experienced it from their junior days, while even fewer have knowledge of the track since its Herman Tilke-inspired spruce which was completed in 2005.
The fast-flowing layout of the 1970s has since, unsurprisingly, been interrupted by a splattering of chicanes and there are already fears that it will fail to stand up as an acceptable replacement for Suzuka.
However, it could have at least two things in its favour.
Firstly, it possesses a long and wide main straight leading into a tight hairpin that should, make that hopefully, allow for some exciting racing and overtaking.
And perhaps most excitingly of all, with its situation in the foothills of Japan?s highest peak, there is an invariably good chance of a rain deluge or too.
That might be something the third title contender, Kimi Raikkonen, would welcome as you feel he will need more than just three victories to come from 13 points back to win a maiden world crown.
A good splattering of the wet stuff would also be welcome addition for the championship that has lost some of its spark at the last two rounds.
F1 could do with a Fuji thriller.
130R