Categories: Look backRace and classic pictures

Ferrari's last win at Suzuka

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Hard to believe, but it's been 11 years since Ferrari last won the Japanese Grand Prix. Not surprisingly, the last man to stand on the top step of the Suzuka podium in a red firesuit was Michael Schumacher, but that was way back in 2004 - here's a picture of him crossing the line to the acclaim of his team.

Since then there have been a famous victory for Kimi Raikkonen in 2005, two wins apiece for Fernando Alonso and for Lewis Hamilton, and an emotional one for Jenson Button in 2011. However by far the most successful active driver at Suzuka is Sebastian Vettel who can claim four wins, four poles and six podiums. Does that mean Vettel about to make it back-to-back triumphs after his success last weekend at Singapore and finally break that decade-long drought for the Scuderia in the land of the rising sun?

Maybe, but perhaps he'd better avoid clinching pole position on Saturday in the meantime: the polesitter here hasn't gone on to win in more than half of the Japanese Grand Prix events here to date. In fact the only thing that you predict about this place is that it never goes quite how you expect it to...

Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.