Williams energised by prospect of 'beautiful' Suzuka

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The Williams team has hard a long, hard slog so far this season with all too little reward for their efforts. So it's good to see the team looking upbeat and excited about the prospect of racing in Suzuka this weekend.

"Straight from Russia, we head to Japan and the Suzuka circuit," said the team's chief technical officer Paddy Lowe. "It is a race that we love as the enthusiasm from the Japanese fans is incredible.

"The circuit is also one the greatest, with a huge heritage in Formula 1 as one of the true classic tracks.

"It has many overtaking opportunities, but little run off, so whilst being one of the more challenging circuits, it can produce some exciting racing. It has a unique figure of eight layout and requires great driver skill to get right."

Felipe Massa scored points here for the team last year. Unfortunately Lance Stroll was forced out eight laps from the finish with suspension issues, but that hasn't dimmed his own enthusiasm for the venue.

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"I love Suzuka, it is one of my favourites on the calendar," said the Canadian. "I am really looking forward to going there.

"It is a demanding track, mentally and physically," he continued. "I am just going to enjoy the beautiful circuit that I get to drive on and get the most out of the car and myself.

"The Japanese fans are great, they love Formula 1's history and you can really feel the energy there in Suzuka."

His team mate Sergey Sirotkin will be racing at Suzuka for the first time, and he's looking forward to finding out first hand what all the excitement is about.

"I’ve been to Suzuka but I haven’t driven there," he said, looking forward to getting back to normal after the mayhem surrounding his home race last weekend.

"The track is mega and out of all the ones I’ve yet to drive, this is the one I’m looking forward to driving the most.

"[It] is a very special race as we all know," he added. "Japan is a very special country with a very special atmosphere."

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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.