I was so pleased that the GP was to be held at Suzuka again after a two-year absence that my expectations may have risen above the possible. Yes, it is a great circuit but it is just as capable of producing a featureless race as any other. And I have to admit that the GP disappointed me probably more than most this year.
Sebastian Vettel
It was not just that Vettel won without a serious challenge from anyone, the RBR5 being by far the best car this time. The whole weekend seemed dismal, rather like the weather on Friday. That was a bad start, the first two practice sessions being almost rained off and certainly no indication of form for the race. The series of accidents was, apparently, a sudden reminder to everyone that Suzuka is a dangerous place. Funny that - I had heard no mention of the fact when everyone was dreaming of its return to the calendar.
Then to have qualifying spoiled by accidents and the subsequent and variably-applied grid penalties was a bad sign for the race to follow. The only bright spot was that the three quickest men were in the first three places; surely a good race must result.
As we know now, that was certainly not the outcome. Vettel disappeared off into the distance and the only interest was the battle between Hamilton and Trulli, resolved at the final pit stop by a slight error from the McLaren driver. Fair enough, Toyota needed the second place to look good at home but it was hardly the stuff of a classic race.
In fact, it was a race largely decided by errors: Heidfeld losing his fourth place through a stuck wheel nut at a pit stop, Button salvaging a point thanks to Sutil and Kovalainen driving into each other just ahead of him, and Alguesuari stuffing it into the barriers again. Follow that with the stewards' illogical decision over Rosberg's speed under safety car conditions and we have a race that is best forgotten.
My only point is that we should regard each GP as a race in itself. Read the reports and the focus is on the championship, all commentators feverishly calculating the slim chances of a result that does not have a Brawn car and driver sweeping the board. But a great race is a great race, regardless of whether the championship is long decided, still in the balance or a nail-biting photo finish. Sure, we should tot up the points afterwards to see how things are going, but to make the various permutations of the numbers the main talking point is a sad commentary on the quality of the race itself.
Come to think of it, it is completely appropriate that this is exactly what happened in Suzuka. Roll on, Brazil...