The Suzuka circuit in Japan is a track I know extremely well and it should suit Lewis Hamilton down to the ground.
Early in my career, before my Formula One days, I raced in Japan and drove there in Formula Nippon and a couple of other series. It was built by Honda as a test track in the 1980s and its mixture of high and low-speed corners have been designed to examine all the characteristics of a car.
You need to be aggressive to get the maximum out of your machinery at Suzuka, and apart from maybe Fernando Alonso I would say that Hamilton is the best driver on the grid at being able to really attack a track and get the most from his car. The Japanese Grand Prix is a race Hamilton has to win if he is to have any chance of winning the world championship and Suzuka should get him back to wining ways.
He has not had a lot of luck in the last couple of races, failing to finish in either Italy or Singapore because of collisions, but this track should really suit his driving style. You have slow speed corners aligned with the popular 130R corner, a high-speed right-hand turn which has changed since I drove there, but is still a terrific challenge. You need to be brave and not afraid to push to the limit to get the maximum lap time, and that is how Hamilton drives and I think he will have a good performance.
Mark Webber, the championship leader, has a smoother style to his driving, but he has gone well here in the past and I think he will be up there at the front as he looks for the points to help keep him in a strong position for his first championship. Although he does not drive in as aggressive manner as the likes of Hamilton or Alonso, Webber has shown he is not going to easily allow people past him, as he showed with his collision with Hamilton in Singapore, and I would expect him to again fight hard in Japan.
Another thing that makes Suzuka different from the modern crop of tracks is that there are not many run-off areas so if you do make a mistake you will be punished for it. Last year we saw that with a number of crashes both in qualifying and during the race and given the unforgiving nature of the track it would be a surprise if there are not a couple of big bumps again this year as everyone will be pushing to the maximum.
Another thing that could have a big impact on the race is the unpredictable weather. The conditions can change very quickly and when it rains there it really can rain. In 1994 I had just joined the Benetton team for the last two races to help boost their push for the constructors' title and to help Michael Schumacher in his fight to win his first world championship. There was a monsoon just before the race and conditions were awful. I think I had got up to third and it was going OK, but then, just as they brought out the safety car because conditions were so bad, I aquaplaned on the main straight.
It was really bad luck. About three seconds earlier my engineer had said "safety car' over the radio, but then the car went away from me and I was powerless to stop it going into the pitwall. It was just unfortunate as I got the call too late, but I made up for that disappointment a year later by finishing third, again in mixed conditions. That will be something the five drivers in the championship hunt will have to be wary of this weekend, but to be world champion you have to be quick in all conditions, and if it is wet then it will be a good challenge for them.
¿¿¿ Another test for the drivers and teams this weekend will be the enthusiastic Japanese fans who will be at Suzuka. Having lived there and raced there I can honestly say they are probably the most dedicated followers of the sport. They have the passion of the tifosi [the spectators at the Italian Grand Prix who support Ferrari], but have such a great enthusiasm and dedication to following the sport during the rest of the season.
They have always been into the sport, but obviously as the event has become more hyped over the years the interest has grown even more. Demands on the drivers for autographs and photographs have always high, although they are such a respectful race that you would always be given space, but the sheer amount of people could make it tricky. It would always be an interesting experience getting from the hotel to the track.
The hotel would usually be close to the entrance, but you would have to take a bus simply because you could not walk it as you would be mobbed by the hundreds of people waiting for a sight of a driver or anyone in team colours. Sitting on the bus watching it push slowly through the sea of people in front of it was a surreal experience, watching them part in front of you slowly to allow the bus through to the main entrance, where there would be more fans.
I would always find that when you got through to the paddock your shirt sleeves would be covered in black marker pen from the huge number of people that had been crowded around you, holding a pen and trying to get an autograph. It is great they are into the sport, but it is another element of the weekend in Japan that makes it so demanding for the drivers.
Johnny Herbert is a former Formula One driver who completed in 161 races, winning three times