Formula 1 News

Williams: 2008 Japanese Grand Prix preview 

Sam Michael: “After a great weekend in Singapore, we are looking forward to the Japanese Grand Prix. It’s always nice to see the passion that Japan shows for motor racing and the track at Mount Fuji is a great venue. Last year’s race was dominated by weather conditions. Fog and rain were the main issues over the weekend, and it could be the same this year. The FW30 has always been good in wet weather so we will go there to score points in any conditions. The track layout is great, with predominantly low and medium speed corners, with the exception of Turns 3, 4 and 5 which offer a high speed combination for the car and drivers to deal with. There are plenty of other corner combinations across the lap which all need to be hooked up in order to bank a competitive lap time so the drivers need to really be on the ball this weekend. With a very long main straight and two intermediate straights, downforce levels are lower than they usually would be in Fuji due to the drag penalty. Another point to note is the altitude. The track is about 570 metres above sea level so the air pressure will be around 950mbar which will also have to be considered within the set-up.”

Kazuki Nakajima: “I’m really excited about my home Grand Prix and this will be the first time I’ve been back to Fuji for three years. It used to be my F3 team’s home track so I lived in the area for a year. It feels really good to be going back, and this time I’ll be driving a Formula One car so I can’t wait. I think there will be some expectation from the fans because I’m the only Japanese driver at the moment so I’m a bit more nervous for this race. The atmosphere will be great though and I’ll just do my best to relax, enjoy the weekend and hopefully bring home some points.”

Nico Rosberg: “After our second place in Singapore, we want to go to Japan with the same momentum and continue our high. Fuji Speedway might not be the best circuit for our car but weather could play a big part in the proceedings this weekend. Last year’s race was a washout and there’s a strong possibility it will rain again this year. If that happens, we’ll have a good chance of a strong finish as our car goes well in the wet. This is Toyota’s home track so I’m looking forward to driving in front of their home crowd.”

source: Williams