Sunday's race at Suzuka carries a little extra weight this weekend as it will be the last Formula One action fans get to savour for five weeks, after the cancellation of both the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix.
Those races were removed due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, and leaves a cavernous gap in the calendar before Miami in May. That makes it a more significant occasion than any third race of the season has a right to be.
And with the sport's new era already throwing up extraordinary stories, there is plenty to savour before the long wait begins.
Mercedes arrive having seized 2026's early narrative. George Russell and Kimi Antonelli have one victory apiece from two races, occupy the top two positions in the championship, and are separated by just four points. The Silver Arrows' power advantage on straight-line sections has been a decisive weapon, allowing them to harvest energy so efficiently that rivals are left scrambling to understand the deficit.
Here is what to look out for on Sunday:
Can Ferrari spring a surprise at Suzuka?
Suzuka's relentless sequence of fast, technical corners suits Ferrari far better than the power-dependent circuits where Mercedes have crushed them so far this season. The Silver Arrows have dominated the opening two races by burning fuel on the straights to recharge their batteries, a brutal advantage that cost Ferrari almost a second in qualifying in Shanghai. Suzuka's twisting layout simply offers less room for that kind of exploitation, playing instead to Ferrari's strengths in the corners.
Ferrari have spent the fortnight since China working to extract more electrical power through slower corners, while their most theatrical weapon, the Macarena wing, is expected to race this weekend, finally.
The wing's upper panels flip completely upside down on the straights to reduce drag and unlock higher top speeds. It was withdrawn after a single practice session in Shanghai when the panels returned too slowly under braking, unsettling the rear of the car and causing Lewis Hamilton to race this weekend finally to spin. Ferrari believe they have now fixed it.
The battle within the Ferrari garage adds another dimension entirely. Hamilton and Charles Leclerc produced breathtaking wheel-to-wheel racing in Shanghai, and whether that rivalry sharpens or complicates strategy at Suzuka is one of the weekend's most compelling questions. Perhaps Kim Kardashian, spotted alongside Hamilton in Japan this week, will prove a lucky charm.
Wounded giants seek answers
Max Verstappen has won the last four Japanese Grands Prix, each time making it look almost effortless. This year feels strikingly different. The Dutchman has been visibly frustrated through the opening two rounds, struggling with a car that is inconsistent and loses alarming amounts of pace through slow corners compared to the frontrunners.
Red Bull believe part of the deficit traces back to an aggressive development push on last year's car that left insufficient groundwork for 2026. Some updates will reportedly arrive this weekend, but a return to Verstappen's dominant Suzuka form would border on the miraculous.
McLaren's difficulties have been even more pronounced. Oscar Piastri has not completed a standing start in either opening race, and both he and Lando Norris were withdrawn with technical failures before the Chinese Grand Prix even began. The aerodynamic gap to Mercedes is around half a second per lap, and team boss Andrea Stella has been candid that insufficient aerodynamic load is the core problem.
CEO Zak Brown addressed his workforce directly this week, promising victories would return sooner rather than later. After two races of watching from the sidelines, perhaps this weekend we actually get to see Piastri racing.
Management chaos envelops Audi
Audi arrive at Suzuka having lost their team principal just days before the race weekend began. Jonathan Wheatley, a veteran of two decades at Red Bull who joined Audi last April to oversee their transition from Sauber into a full works manufacturer, departed last Friday due to personal reasons. The timing was striking, as reports linking him to the Aston Martin vacancy had emerged only days earlier.
Mattia Binotto, the former Ferrari team principal now leading Audi's broader technical programme, assumes full team principal responsibilities alongside his existing duties. Suzuka will be his first race in sole charge.
Gabriel Bortoleto scored points on debut in Australia and Nico Hulkenberg finished 11th in China, but reliability failures have cost them on both weekends and that, rather than raw pace, remains the barrier between Audi and consistent points finishes.
A painful homecoming for Honda
Suzuka is Honda's home race, and this weekend was supposed to carry cause for celebration. Instead, the Japanese manufacturer arrives with one of the sport's most pressing technical crises still unresolved.
Violent vibrations from their power unit have been severe enough for Adrian Newey to warn of "permanent nerve damage" to its Aston Martin drivers, and in China, Fernando Alonso was forced to release his grip on the steering wheel entirely to protect his hands. He retired from the race shortly after.
Honda acknowledged that the root cause of the vibrations has not yet been identified.
Off the track, reports emerged linking Wheatley to a team principal role. Lawrence Stroll, Aston Martin's co-owner, moved quickly to dismiss the speculation, insisting the current leadership structure is working as intended and that Newey's remit spans both the technical and strategic direction of the team. Whether that remains the case beyond this season is up for debate.
Adding a personal note to an already eventful week, Alonso will miss Thursday's media day following the birth of his first child. Whatever turbulence surrounds the team, that is one piece of genuinely good news.
