Rally Japan

The first Japanese Grand Prix was a sports car race held at the Suzuka Circuit in May 1963. The event was held at Suzuka again in 1964. For the next eight non-championship installments, the Grand Prix was run at the Fuji Speedway. The first Formula One Japanese Grand Prix in 1976 took place at the Fuji Speedway, which was then a 2.7-mile track without its original banking. The race returned to Fuji in 1977.

After a decade-long absence, the Japanese Grand Prix returned to the Formula One calendar in 1987 at the redesigned Suzuka Circuit. Suzuka, owned by Honda, was designed by John Hugenholtz and is notable for being the only figure-eight race track on the F1 calendar. It hosted the Grand Prix exclusively for 20 years. In 2007, the Grand Prix moved back to the newly redesigned Fuji Speedway. After a second race at Fuji in 2008, the event returned to Suzuka in 2009 as part of an alternating agreement between the owners of Fuji Speedway (Toyota) and Suzuka Circuit (Honda). However, in July 2009, Toyota announced it would not host the race at Fuji Speedway from 2010 onwards due to a downturn in the global economy. Consequently, Suzuka has hosted the Japanese Grand Prix every year since 2009, except for 2020 and 2021 when the Grands Prix were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The event is scheduled to take place at the Suzuka Circuit until at least 2029.

The 1976 race at Fuji Speedway was famous for the title decider between James Hunt and Niki Lauda in monsoon conditions. Mario Andretti won the race for Lotus. Hunt won the second Japanese Grand Prix in 1977. The 1987 event at Suzuka saw Nigel Mansell crash in practice, effectively handing the title to his teammate Nelson Piquet. Gerhard Berger won the race for Ferrari.

Suzuka played a significant role in the rivalry between Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna. The 1988 race was a World Championship decider between the McLaren teammates. Senna, after stalling on the grid and dropping to 14th, fought back to win the race and his first Drivers' Championship. The 1989 race was also highly controversial, with a collision between Prost and Senna leading to Alessandro Nannini inheriting the victory after Senna's disqualification. Prost won his third Drivers' Championship. The 1990 event was equally controversial, with another collision between Senna and Prost on the first lap, resulting in Senna winning his second World Drivers' Championship. Nelson Piquet won the race.

In 1991, Senna won his third Drivers' Championship after Mansell went off. Senna allowed his teammate Gerhard Berger to win the race. The 1992 race, won by Riccardo Patrese, was the first Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka not to determine the championship. In 1993, Senna won his 40th career race from Prost. The 1994 race, won by Damon Hill, saw him battle Michael Schumacher for the Drivers' Championship in torrential rain. Schumacher won the 1995 race, having already secured the Drivers' Championship. Hill won the 1996 race and the drivers' title after Jacques Villeneuve lost a wheel. Michael Schumacher won in 1997, while his title rival Jacques Villeneuve was disqualified. The 1998 race was a title decider between Schumacher and Mika Häkkinen, with Häkkinen winning his first drivers' championship after Schumacher suffered a puncture. Häkkinen secured his second consecutive drivers' title in 1999.

Ferrari dominated the next five events, with Michael Schumacher winning in 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2004, and Rubens Barrichello winning in 2003. Schumacher secured his third title at the 2000 event, Ferrari's first drivers' championship in 21 years. In 2003, Schumacher secured his sixth World Drivers' Championship. The qualifying session for the 2004 event was postponed to race day due to a typhoon. The 2005 race was won by Kimi Räikkönen of McLaren, who started 17th. In 2006, Fernando Alonso won the race after Michael Schumacher suffered an engine failure, ending his championship chances. The 2007 race at Fuji was held in torrential rain and won by Lewis Hamilton. In 2008, Fernando Alonso took victory in a Renault.

Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel dominated the 2009 and 2010 races, with Red Bull finishing 1-2 both years. Vettel secured his second World Championship in the 2011 Grand Prix with a third-place finish, while Jenson Button won the race for McLaren. Kamui Kobayashi took third place at the 2012 Japanese Grand Prix, becoming the first Japanese driver to finish on a Formula One podium in Japan in 22 years. The 2013 race was won by Sebastian Vettel, his fourth consecutive victory of the season and at Suzuka. His teammate Mark Webber finished second, with Romain Grosjean taking third for Lotus. The 2014 race was affected by a typhoon and won by Lewis Hamilton, but was marred by a crash involving Jules Bianchi. The 2022 Japanese Grand Prix, the first at Suzuka since 2019, saw a delayed start due to rain and confusion over points, with Max Verstappen becoming the 2022 Formula One World Champion. The Japanese Grand Prix was moved to an April slot for the 2024 calendar as part of F1's regionalization efforts.

Since its return to the Formula One calendar in 1987, the Japanese Grand Prix has been popular with spectators. For the 1990 race, three million fans entered a draw for 120,000 available tickets, driven by Honda's world championship successes, the presence of Satoru Nakajima as Japan's first full-time F1 driver, and Ayrton Senna's popularity in Japan. After Nakajima's retirement in 1991 and Honda's withdrawal, interest declined, with the 1995 Japanese Grand Prix being the first for which tickets did not sell out. The appearance of new Japanese drivers like Takuma Sato and the entry of Honda and Toyota as full manufacturer teams restored the event's popularity. Honda and Toyota later left Formula One in 2008 and 2009, citing economic reasons. Honda returned as an engine supplier for McLaren in 2015, and later for Toro Rosso (later AlphaTauri and RB) in 2018, and Red Bull Racing in 2019, before leaving after the 2021 season. Honda will move to Aston Martin as a works engine supplier following the 2026 season.

This article is based solely on the supplied corpus. No external sources were consulted; claims that could not be substantiated against the corpus were omitted under the drop-the-claim rule.