Ferrari returns to the Japanese Grand Prix this weekend, desperate to tap into hallowed history in a bid to ignite their title challenge.
The Scuderia suffered their first double DQ in their 75-year history last time out, but Suzuka holds a much more positive spot in the archives.
Ferrari haven’t won the Japanese Grand Prix since a five-peat run during Michael Schumacher’s heyday from 2000-2004.
However, it was the start of that run that remains most special to the man himself, who once chose it as the race of his life.
Schumacher’s legacy with F1’s most successful team is such that he’s as synonymous with the Prancing Horse as their founder, Enzo.
That heritage started when he set himself the task of restoring Ferrari to its former glory upon his arrival in 1996.
The Tifosi hadn’t witnessed the famous red win the Drivers’ Championship since 1979, with Schumacher initially struggling.
With the aid of Jean Todt, Ross Brawn, and Rory Byrne, the German slowly began to turn the team’s fortunes around.
Fast forward to the penultimate round of the 2000 F1 season, and Schumacher had the chance to emulate Jody Scheckter’s heroics.
The 56-year-old had an eight-point lead over championship rival Mika Hakkinen in front of 151,000 fans at the Japanese Grand Prix.
Schumacher – then a double World Champion – only managed to beat the Finn to pole position by a nine-thousandth of a second.
That proved a sign of things to come for the main race, as Hakkinen’s superb start saw him take the lead off the lead into turn one.
The pair pulled away from the rest of the pack, but the changeable weather conditions prevented Schumacher from closing the gap.
Instead, the 91-time race winner put his title fate in the hands of his crew.
Their strategic masterclass saw him pit for a second time on lap 40 and emerge 4.1 seconds ahead of Hakkinen’s McLaren, and soon, Ferrari’s 21-year wait for the drivers’ world championship was over.
“All my life, I will never forget that radio signal from Ross [Brawn],” recalled Schumacher later when recounting the 2000 Japanese Grand Prix for Autosport’s Race of My Life series.
“I was driving down the pitlane after my second stop, and he said over the radio: ‘It’s looking good, it’s looking good.’
“I was very tense, and fully expecting him to say: ‘It was looking good,’ but suddenly he said: ‘It’s looking bloody good!’
Japanese Grand Prix Repeat winners
6 – Michael Schumacher (1995, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004)
5 – Lewis Hamilton (2007, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018)
4 – Sebastian Vettel (2009, 2010, 2012, 2013)
3 – Max Verstappen (2022, 2023, 2024)
“I didn’t expect that it would work out after the second pitstop. My two last laps before the pitstop were not very good. I had been caught in traffic, and had had to overtake a Benetton that had spun off the track. And then came Ross’s radio message – unbelievable.
“I realised immediately that I had emerged from the pitlane in the lead, that if I made no mistakes and there were no problems with the car, then it was in our grasp, because overtaking is almost impossible at Suzuka.
“The good thing was that I had to concentrate the whole time, because it was drizzling and various sections of the track were very dark where it had just been resurfaced. You couldn’t see clearly whether it was wet or not.
“And then the moment when I crossed the line – crazy! Up to then I hadn’t dared feel any joy, because I wanted to be absolutely sure and get that finishing line behind me.
“Later, I was repeatedly asked what my predominant feelings were at that moment, and on no single occasion was I able to find the right words. I didn’t know what to do with this happiness.
“I suddenly felt trapped in the car, trapped in my Ferrari, as if I was about to burst. I banged so hard on the steering wheel they thought it was broken, and, as a precaution, it had to be taken out of service.
“Looking back, I have to say that this race was something very special for me. Not only because it brought me the title, but also because it was such a high-class race. It really was racing at its top level.
“For over 40 laps, Mika [Hakkinen] and I did almost identical times, like a perpetual qualifying lap. It was certainly one of the best races I have ever driven, if not the best. Mika was fantastic and pushed me to the very limits.”
After such a gruelling race, a lavish title celebration was called for, and no one could begrudge Schumacher enjoying every inch of it.
Alongside Kimi Raikkonen and F1 brother Ralf, the newly-crowned champion threw what is now dubbed ‘F1’s craziest party’.
What started with beers and the finest Cuban cigars ultimately led Schumacher to steal a forklift truck and drive it around the paddock.
He added: “I have never suffered so badly after a party.
“From Japan, we went on holiday to Thailand, and it took me two days to get over the after-effects.”
Recalling that wild night in Japan, his sibling and fellow former F1 driver Ralf told the Formel1.de Youtube channel: “We had many legendary parties back then at Karlheinz Zimmermann’s catering.
“The successes that Michael achieved. But even then, we celebrated, and it was usually in Suzuka, where it was quite extreme.
“I remember torn pants and such, but that’s part of it. We just drove towards the hotel with a forklift in the evening. I was on it, too. It was quite fun. Memories, very fond memories that I wouldn’t want to miss.”
25 years later, Ferrari can’t win the championship in Japan, but the drivers can certainly lose it after a torrid start to the new season.
Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc‘s double disqualification in China has left the former 17 points off championship leader Lando Norris.
Suzuka is a track Hamilton has won at more than any other driver, bar Schumacher; suddenly, Ferrari fans will be hoping another of their seven-time world champions will have the race of their life in Japan…
