The 2007 Japanese GP has come and gone, there are just 2 more races to go. Read the full report from our F1 corespondent, live straight out of Japan!!!!

By: Kevin Falk
LZ Staff

Well, the experience was HELL but the race itself was really cool, rain, great views from where we were, but the shuttle bus ride was a JOKE. After the race we waited THREE hours in a muddy field, lined up trudging through mud till we finally got on the shuttle. All told, we left yesterday morning at 8:30 AM and got home at 10 PM.

On the face of it, 11000 yen for the 3 day ticket which included the shuttle from the train station (OK, 30 minute WALK from the train station) seemed like a good deal, but there must have been hundreds and hundreds of busses, and once we got close to the circuit, it was stop and go for about an hour. Finally the bus riders revolted, we got off and walked the rest of the way up.

So finally in the Fuji Speedway circuit, there were people everywhere, the hills were covered with people, and the stands were all full. Oddly, there was a grandstand with great views that was EMPTY. That made no sense to me, but hey, after the chaos that was the 2007 Japanse GP it only seemed fitting. Saw lots of action, several passes right in front of us and the glorious sound of the F1 machines in action.

Hamilton came within a victory or less for his 1st World Championship as a rookie (a 1st if you exclude the 1st ever year of F1 in which obviously, someone would be champion), although it will always be tainted as the Ferrari boss said, “his championship will come with plenty of Ferrari inside his McLaren”. Still, you can’t help but think Hamilton is the man of the future, he’s brilliant on track and makes so few mistakes even on tracks he’s never been on before. Ferrari would surely have done better if they’d gotten the pit lane communique requiring extreme wet tires from the start, instead they were 21st & 22nd before the safety car ever went in as they started on intermediates (a terrible choice in light of the weather) and then had to change to to the extreme wet tires. As it is, Raikonen drove a brilliant race from dead last, to 3rd, the Iceman has all the talent, I really hope to see him take at least 1 World Championship title, he deserves it.

Red Bull, what can you say? They would have easily had 2nd and 3rd, but the young, 20 year old Sutil smashed into the back of Webber with only like 10 laps to go and behind the safety car while they cleaned up Alonso’s wrecked McLaren!!!! Amazing. But still, he’s the youngest driver out there, and now the youngest to ever lead an F1 race.

Most of the paths were dirt, therefore MUD. I don’t know what the Japanese have against concrete or asphalt, this is after all supposed to be an event for the fans, and it’s not like rain is rare in Japan: it rains all the time!!! PAVE THE PATHS! Toyota spent MILLIONS upgrading the track, apparently they only think about the TEAMS and the actual circuit, but without the fans attending the race, there would be NO race.

After the race as the masses headed to the shuttle busses to go home, no one seemed to know what was going on, fortunately, the crowd sort of just started making a snaking line itself. My feet were soaked and muddy, as were everyone elses, and it was just incredibly frustrating. An older German man was
flipping out, yelling at the the 3 or 4 people who were working the buses trying to corral a quarter million people, it was a joke. We left immediately after the race, only breezing through the shops and tent museum, and it took us 3 hours to get on the bus. As we were pulling out, the line we waited 3 hours in now extended up the hill as far as you could see, I would guess those poor souls waited 4+ hours minimum. Makes the lines at Disney seem like nothing!

So that’s a wrap, the 2007 Japanese GP is over, and I honestly don’t think I’d ever go to it again. I think Canada is looking closer and closer! 2 races to go, and then it’s a long, 4 month wait till the 2008 season begins.